Ignore the seat belt to your peril
Jun 30, 2004
Last month, the minister of Works and housing and communications issued road safety guidelines requiring all occupants of vehicles to wear seat belts at all times. <br>The measure was welcomed by some people, and criticised by others.
Last month, the minister of Works and housing and communications issued road safety guidelines requiring all occupants of vehicles to wear seat belts at all times.
The measure was welcomed by some people, and criticised by others.
The critics advance different reasons for their opinion, which to me, all sound lame compared to the safety that a belt offers to the wearer. In Uganda, close to 2,000 people die in road accidents every year while thousands sustain serious and minor injuries.
Research in developed countries reveals that wearing safety belts can save up to 50% of road fatalities and injuries. This means that over 1,000 lives would be saved in Uganda, if all vehicle occupants wore safety belts.
To understand what seat belts can do to protect you, one needs to know what happens in case of an accident.
When a vehicle crashes, passengers are still travelling at the vehicle’s speed at the moment of impact. When the vehicle comes to a sudden stop, a situation that takes only one tenth of a second after the impact, the unbelted passengers, driven by the force of inertia, slam into the car’s interior, hitting the steering wheel, wind screen or other parts of the vehicle’s interior.
This is where most injuries are sustained.
Sometimes the occupants are thrown out of the vehicle to their death. The belt therefore holds the passenger in place.
During a crash, safety belts distribute the forces of rapid deceleration over larger and stronger parts of the body such as the chest, hips and shoulders.
Some people have reasoned that they know of cases where people have survived accidents just because they were thrown out of the vehicles, ‘thanks’ to not wearing seat belts.
However, research has shown that a person’s chances of being killed are almost 25 times greater if thrown out of the car. “The forces in a collision can be great enough to fling you as much as 150 feet (about 15 car length) if you are not wearing a seat belt.
There are chances of scraping along he ground, hitting your head on hard ground and being crushed by your own car,†said a recent report of research findings by Oklahoma University, also posted on their website www.ou.edu
Another excuse often advanced is the fear of being trapped in a burning or water submerged car.
However, research has shown that very few collisions involve fire or submersion. But if fire occurs wearing a seat belt can actually save you.
In case of a crash without a seat belt, you might be stunned or knocked unconscious by striking the interior of the car. Then your chances of getting out of a burning or submerged car would be far less. But if you wore a belt, the likelihood of being hurt would be far less, you would be more alert and capable of escaping quickly.
Most people ignore wearing seatbelts when travelling at a low speed or going on short distances such as to the shopping malls.
However, the truth is that all driving is dangerous. In America, more than 80% of all accidents occur at speeds less than 40mph and within 25miles of home.
Fatalities involving non-belted occupants of cars have been recorded at a speed as low as 12 mph. Do all passengers know how to wear seat belts? I have seen some people fidget to buckle-up, passing the belt behind their head, back and under their arms.
The correct way is that the lap belt or lap portion of the shoulder belt should be adjusted so it is low and snug across the pelvis/lap area, but never cross the stomach.
Strapping it across the stomach may lead to the belt itself causing damage to internal organs in a crash.
The belt should cross the chest and collarbone and be snug. It should never cross the front of the face or be placed behind your back. It does not make sense if only people in the front seats wear safety belts as is the habit in Uganda. If the back seat passengers are not buckled up, they will ‘fly around’ inside the vehicle in case of a crash, thereby becoming a hazard to the bucked-up occupants.
Even children must be buckled-up. In the new regulations, a driver who does not buckle-up commits an offence and is liable to a fine of not less than sh40,000 and not exceeding sh80,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both. A passenger is fined sh20,000 or imprisoned for a period not exceeding one month, or both.
The measure was welcomed by some people, and criticised by others.
The critics advance different reasons for their opinion, which to me, all sound lame compared to the safety that a belt offers to the wearer. In Uganda, close to 2,000 people die in road accidents every year while thousands sustain serious and minor injuries.
Research in developed countries reveals that wearing safety belts can save up to 50% of road fatalities and injuries. This means that over 1,000 lives would be saved in Uganda, if all vehicle occupants wore safety belts.
To understand what seat belts can do to protect you, one needs to know what happens in case of an accident.
When a vehicle crashes, passengers are still travelling at the vehicle’s speed at the moment of impact. When the vehicle comes to a sudden stop, a situation that takes only one tenth of a second after the impact, the unbelted passengers, driven by the force of inertia, slam into the car’s interior, hitting the steering wheel, wind screen or other parts of the vehicle’s interior.
This is where most injuries are sustained.
Sometimes the occupants are thrown out of the vehicle to their death. The belt therefore holds the passenger in place.
During a crash, safety belts distribute the forces of rapid deceleration over larger and stronger parts of the body such as the chest, hips and shoulders.
Some people have reasoned that they know of cases where people have survived accidents just because they were thrown out of the vehicles, ‘thanks’ to not wearing seat belts.
However, research has shown that a person’s chances of being killed are almost 25 times greater if thrown out of the car. “The forces in a collision can be great enough to fling you as much as 150 feet (about 15 car length) if you are not wearing a seat belt.
There are chances of scraping along he ground, hitting your head on hard ground and being crushed by your own car,†said a recent report of research findings by Oklahoma University, also posted on their website www.ou.edu
Another excuse often advanced is the fear of being trapped in a burning or water submerged car.
However, research has shown that very few collisions involve fire or submersion. But if fire occurs wearing a seat belt can actually save you.
In case of a crash without a seat belt, you might be stunned or knocked unconscious by striking the interior of the car. Then your chances of getting out of a burning or submerged car would be far less. But if you wore a belt, the likelihood of being hurt would be far less, you would be more alert and capable of escaping quickly.
Most people ignore wearing seatbelts when travelling at a low speed or going on short distances such as to the shopping malls.
However, the truth is that all driving is dangerous. In America, more than 80% of all accidents occur at speeds less than 40mph and within 25miles of home.
Fatalities involving non-belted occupants of cars have been recorded at a speed as low as 12 mph. Do all passengers know how to wear seat belts? I have seen some people fidget to buckle-up, passing the belt behind their head, back and under their arms.
The correct way is that the lap belt or lap portion of the shoulder belt should be adjusted so it is low and snug across the pelvis/lap area, but never cross the stomach.
Strapping it across the stomach may lead to the belt itself causing damage to internal organs in a crash.
The belt should cross the chest and collarbone and be snug. It should never cross the front of the face or be placed behind your back. It does not make sense if only people in the front seats wear safety belts as is the habit in Uganda. If the back seat passengers are not buckled up, they will ‘fly around’ inside the vehicle in case of a crash, thereby becoming a hazard to the bucked-up occupants.
Even children must be buckled-up. In the new regulations, a driver who does not buckle-up commits an offence and is liable to a fine of not less than sh40,000 and not exceeding sh80,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both. A passenger is fined sh20,000 or imprisoned for a period not exceeding one month, or both.