Seat Belts: Better Safe Than Sorry!

Accident report: 2 die, 5 injured in I-17 accident

This accident happened on Sunday afternoon on Interstate-17, just north of Phoenix, Arizona. A van with 9 people, was travelling North to the Grand Canyon. The driver lost control, the van rolled over twice across the wide median (the median is almost wider than northbound or southbound lanes) and came to rest on the Southbound lanes.

I saw the van on TV in Sunday night's news. It had some body damage on the sides, some damage in the front, otherwise it was alright. After rolling over twice, it had come to a stop in the upright position. All nine people in the van were thrown out, 2 died on the spot, 5 were critically injured. A police officer mentioned that ALL nine people were not wearing seat belts. He also said that if they had been wearing seat belts, they would ALL have walked away from the accident, with minor injuries.

A few months ago, one of my friends had a similar accident on I-17, when returning from the Grand Canyon. He was in a car, with his wife and parents. The car flipped over. Three people had minor injuries. They had all been wearing seat belts. The only person who was not wearing the seat belt had multiple fractures. She had been sitting in the backseat.

Please wear seat belts when travelling on the freeway. Even if you are sitting on the back seat, wear seat belts. I have noticed that many people who come newly from India are reluctant to wear seat belts. Some people think it is okay to not wear seat belts if they are travelling in the backseat of the car. This is a carry-over of our behavior from travelling on Indian roads. We should remember that the average speed on American freeways is double or triple the average speed on Indian highways. At such high speeds, the possibility of serious injuries due to accidents increases exponentially.

If you have a baby/kid, please ensure that s/he is belted down properly when the car is moving. Holding the baby in your arms is NOT safe. If there is an accident at a high speed, it is impossible to hold on to the baby in your arms. The momentum causes the baby's weight to feel as if it is 10 times more than the normal weight. So, holding onto a 10 lbs baby feels like trying to hold onto a 100 lbs object, which is flying away from your arms! This is not an exaggeration.

If you are driving the car, insist that all your passengers wear seat belts. Better be safe than sorry.