Your Safety. It's worth a second thought.
Safety belts reduce your risk of death or serious injury in a
motor vehicle crash by up to 50%. Buckling up not only makes sense
from a safety standpoint, Massachusetts law requires all occupants
to be properly restrained by a safety belt when riding in a
private passenger motor vehicle, including vans and trucks.
Unfortunately, a 2002 GHSB observational study found only 51% of
front seat automobile occupants in Massachusetts use safety belts.
Buckle Up!
Nobody plans a car crash-but we can plan to prevent them.
Staying within speed limits, not driving if impaired by drugs or
alcohol, and always wearing your safety belt can go a long way
towards keeping you safer on the roads.
What happens in a car crash?
- Vehicle Collision: The car hits a tree, pole,
or another vehicle.
- Human Collision: The car stops, but anyone
unbelted keeps moving. Your face hits the windshield or
steering wheel; your ribcage hits the dashboard. Without your
safety belt, you could be thrown from the vehicle.
- Internal Collision: When you stop, your
internal organs keep moving. Your brain can crash into your
skull, and your heart, lungs, and kidneys can smash into each
other or bone. It's the internal collision that leads to
serious injury and death.
Safety belts increase your chances of avoiding death or
serious injury in a crash by up to 50%.
- Think you can "brace yourself" in a crash?
At just 35 mph, a 130 pound adult generates a force of 3,600
pounds. Nobody's arms are that strong!
- Just going to the store? Wear your safety belt - 80% of
traffic fatalities occur within 25 miles of home and at speeds
under 40 miles an hour.
- Airbags inflate at up to 200 mph and can seriously injure
unbelted drivers and passengers.
- Safety belts prevent you from being knocked unconscious in a
crash, improving your chances to escape and help other
passengers.
Massachusetts law requires all drivers and passengers to
buckle up.
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