| Nonverbal Communication Essay, Research Paper
Seatbelts: Should You Decide!
Every time you get in the car you make a life or death decision when you decide to buckle up or not to buckle up. If you’ve ever been in an auto accident you should know how hard it is to resist the force of inertia, impossible. Do you know that at only 25 mph a 12-lb baby would suddenly become a 240-pound baby that’s almost impossible to hold on to. (GMAC P. 1-37) When you ride on or in something (especially a car) you will be going as fast as it goes. If it suddenly stops after getting up to speed, it may stop but you will keep going until something stops you, in a vehicle that could be the windshield, the steering wheel, or the safety belt. When you are in an accident the force of momentum takes control of your body; it decides where you go and how fast and hard you will suddenly stop. It’s your choice, but make the wrong one and you may regret it later. Everyone should wear their seatbelt since they have been designed, tested, and proved to protect you from serious injury or fatal injury in a motor vehicle accident. Is it worth the chance many of us take each and every time we leave our driveways without fastening up? In most crashes whether you buckle up or not, it matters a lot. Make the right decision each and every time you decide to leave your driveway buckle up it saves lives!
Statistics prove it pays to wear a seat belt. In 1999 of the fatalities involved in auto accidents there were 18,271 deaths nationwide last year alone due to occupants not wearing their seat belts. (Occupant Fatalities in Passenger Vehicles by Restraint Use, P.1) That’s an unreasonable amount of people that could have buckled up on America’s roadways last year and could possibly have lived to see another sunrise. Of front-seat passenger’s safety belts prevented about 120,000 moderate-to-critical injuries in 1989. In that same year if all front-seat occupants had been wearing safety belts, 15,535 peoples’ lives may have been saved. (Buckle-Up America, P.1) Even if you have an airbag installed in your car it doesn’t mean you don’t need to wear a seatbelt. Of the 68 adult fatalities resulting from air bag employment since 1990, 62 of them were due to failure to wear a safety belt.
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