Facts on Car Accidents and Seat Belts

 1) The major cause of car occupant fatalities in car accidents is head injuries, 

     which account for more than half (56.4%).

     - usually occurs when car occupants are thrown out of the vehicle through the windshield or 

        when they collide with the car seat or dashboard.

     - restraining the head and the body in the initial position is important in any injury control.

        (seat belts does that)

2) Safety seat belts which restrains the body in the original position to a seat have proved to 

     - reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passengers by 45%.

     - reduce the risk of moderate to critical injury by 50%.

3) The seat belt helps the driver to control the car in a crash situation as it 

     holds the passenger in place. 

     - Serious injuries occurring to passengers are often caused by people being 

        thrown into each other during a crash.

4) Very often, we hear phrases like, “I am just going to the pasar malam, and it is only a five
     minute drive, no need to wear seatbelt lah!” 

     - Statistics indicate that 65% of accidents happen close to the home.

5) Recent research findings by MIROS (Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research)

    show that 350 lifes can be saved a year if wearing rear seatbelts is made 

    compulsory and enforced.

6) Your chances of surviving an accident are five times higher, if you remain inside

     your vehicle and not get thrown out. (Seat Belts does that)

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What's Your Reason For Not Wearing One?

 
 

"I won't be in an accident: I'm a good driver."  

Your good driving record will certainly help you avoid accidents. 

But even if you're a good driver, a bad driver may still hit you.

"I'll just brace myself." 

Even if you had the split-second timing to do this, the force of the impact would 

shatter the arm or leg you used to brace yourself.

 

"I'm afraid the belt will trap me in the car." 

Statistically, the best place to be during an accident is in your car. 

If you're thrown out of the car, you're 25 times more likely to die. 

And if you need to get out of the car in a hurry - as in the extremely tiny percent 

of accidents involving fire or submergence - you can get out a lot faster if 

you haven't been knocked unconscious inside your car.

 

"I don't need a belt - I've got an airbag." 

Lucky you! An air bag increases the effectiveness of a safety belt by 40 percent. 

But air bags were never meant to be used in place of safety belts, 

since they don't protect against side impacts at all.

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What happens inside a car when there is collision between two vehicles?

An accident is not just a collision between two vehicles; there is a chain reaction that
happens inside the vehicle. 

As collisions happen on the outside, other simultaneous collisions occur inside the vehicle. 

Bear in mind that you are traveling just as fast as the car and when the collision occurs, 

the car stops, but you continue to travel at the same speed. In such an emergency 

the seatbelt becomes very, very important as your seatbelt is your one and only 

speed breaker.
 

In a collision, there will be three or four sub collisions happening at the same time. 

As mentioned earlier, there is the collision between the two vehicles on the outside, 

and then there is the collision inside the car, especially if no seatbelts are used. 

(Collision of the back-seat passengers with the front seat or front passengers with the windshield.)
 

Internally, our body will experience a collision as well. Due to the speed that we are
moving, our internal organs will also collide against our skeletal frame causing various
internal injuries.
 

Finally, the fourth collision will happen if any object in the car collides with any of the
passengers. E.g. umbrellas, heavy tools, bags and even loose change in the car 

can be a hazard during an accident.

There are two routes that an unrestrained person takes during a crash. 

The first is called ‘up and over', the second is‘down and under’.

In the case of 'up and over', the body launches forward and up, causing the head to 

strike the windshield. 

The injuries sustained may include a concussion, scalp lacerations and brain injury. 

As the crash victims are further pushed through the windshield, the soft facial tissues 

and skin may be scarred or even be ripped of the facial bones. 

Finally, the person is thrown out of the car and the injuries sustained are far worse. 

Compared to the injuries sustained if you are restrained in your seat due to hitting 

the ground, trees, lamp posts or being run over by another vehicle. The rest I leave 

to your imagination.
 

The ‘down-and-under' victims lunge forward and down, under the dashboard causing
the chest to hit hard against the dashboard. 

Furthermore, there is a chance for victims to attain fractures on the knee, 

femurs (thigh bone), the spine, ribs, and the sternum. 

Due to severe impact, there have been cases whereby the femurs have been pushed
through the pelvic floor. Either way, unrestrained passengers or drivers maybe exposed
to severe injury.

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