Seat belts. We all know about them. We know how to use them. But does everyone use them? No, and that’s a problem. Refusing to wear a seat belt can result in a death sentence being handed down. It’s the kind of poor choice that one can never recover from.
Back in 1999, when I was dating my first wife, we were in a horrible car accident. Someone ran the red light and caused a four-car incident. We were on the way from the local shopping mall on the way to drop me off at my car. I admit it: I almost didn’t fasten my belt, but I felt the impression that I needed to do so..
She didn’t want to wear her belt, and I was pretty insistent that she do so. Sighing, she made a big production of putting on her belt. Less than a minute later, the impact occurred. Because of my, shall we say, intense suggestion, we both made it out alive, with minor injuries.
To give you an idea of how bad it was, I flew forward with such force that the letters on that warning tag that’s on seat belts were imprinted into my chest. Had I not fastened my belt, I would have gone head first into the windshield and, at that amount of force, I would have been dead on impact.
Likewise, she survived because of her belt, and because we both did, we walked out of the hospital with stitches, but we were alive.
It really gets me sometimes when I see someone not wearing their belt. When I’m driving, the car ain’t moving until everyone had their belts fastened. If someone has a problem with that (and they have, for some reason!), they are welcome to step out and walk.
So consider this your free PSA for the day: fasten your fucking seat belt or die.