buckle up......

I  sent this to somebody who does not BUCKLE up, coz "he is only driving a short distance"

 

So I sent facts to him, to try and convince him otherwise...the people in my life are important to me and I don't want to lose them because they were being silly.

 

Thought I would blog this to all of the peeps out there who do not buckle up,

 

It is such a small, important and simple thing you have to do, and it SAVES LIVES!

Facts and fallacies

Wearing seat belts is unnecessary in a car with air bags. Air bags are designed to work with safety belts to keep you in position in the event of a crash.

Buckling up is not important if you’re popping around the corner to the shops. The risk of getting into a serious crash is just as great when on a quick trip, as 75% of all serious crashes occur within 50km of home.

Wearing seat belts can leave you trapped in a vehicle that catches alight or is submerged in a dam. Only one in 200 traffic accidents involve fire or submersion.

Using seat belts prevents occupants from being knocked unconscious or colliding with other passengers, so that you can leave the vehicle with the least amount of injury. Wearing a safety belt creases my clothes. In comparison to severe injuries or death, seat belts are worth wearing.  (What a ridiculous reason, you do not want to crease your clothes?!) Creases can be removed. Being thrown clear of a car to get out of harm’s way is better in a crash. Your chances of being killed are four times greater if you are thrown out of the vehicle.

Seat belts are too uncomfortable. In a car crash without a seat belt you would smash into the steering column, slam into the dashboard or crash through the windshield — that’s more uncomfortable.

An adult’s arms provide the best protection for a very small baby. In a 50km-per-hour collision, a 5kg baby can suddenly be ripped from a belted adult’s arms with the force of over 100kg. — Phindile Chauke

Buckle up or cough up, say police 

• Gauteng’s traffic authorities are going all out this Easter to fine those they catch not wearing their seat belts.
• The blitz, conducted by the province’s three metro police departments, comes after 342 people, including pedestrians, lost their lives on Gauteng’s roads in December.
• Of those killed, a study commissioned by the Automobile Association (AA) indicated that at least 100 people could have survived had they worn safety belts.

Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesman Malcolm Midgley said many people still don’t understand why they should wear safety belts.

“Others even go as far as phoning radio stations to say they have survived a number of accidents because they had not been wearing a safety belt,” he said.

“But ... not wearing a safety belt could leave you paralysed — if not dead,” said Midgley.

So: next time you are driving somewhere:

BUCKLE UP!!!!