The simple answer to this question is yes! The use of your seatbelt while driving can be the difference between life and death in a highway accident. By design, seatbelt are safety restraints that keep you confined to a seating position on your seat even during an accident.

Your seatbelt firmly secures you to the seat and prevents you from being thrown through the windscreen, side windows or rear window of your vehicle in heat of an accident.

Admittedly, Hollywood movies depicting drivers being trapped in their seat due to a jammed seatbelt lock don’t help. But the truth of the matter is, using your seatbelt while driving will protect you in all forms of collision-related accidents. Below are some reasons why wearing your seatbelt is important and why driving with your seatbelt will protect you.

Protection from Being a Projectile:

Driving with your seatbelt will prevent you from being turned into a projectile. A collision accident while driving at high speeds can instantly propel a driver and passengers out of a vehicle.

If you are not properly strapped in your seat with your seatbelt, the force from a head-on collision with another vehicle for example, can cause you to fly through your windscreen.

Passengers in your vehicle that are not using a seatbelt may also be at risk of becoming projectiles. The momentum from the collision can propel all passengers in your vehicle through side windows, the windscreen, or even the rear window. By wearing your seatbelt during a collision accident, you will be restrained in your seat and not thrown out of the vehicle to certain death.

Protection from Airbag Injuries:

 Many deaths have been recorded from airbag-related injuries. The airbags of your vehicle are automatically activated during a collision accident.

Airbags ensure that you do not crash your body to the car door or your head onto your steering wheel in the event of an accident.

While airbags like seatbelt offer you safety, airbags may also be a cause for serious injuries and death during an accident. If you are not wearing your seatbelt during a collision, the airbags that are meant to protect you may end up causing you serious harm, as you are suddenly jolted into them during a crash.

Wearing a seatbelt will keep you from being tossed around in awkward positions during a collision and being harmed in the process by your airbags of all things.

Conclusion

 Wearing your seatbelt will protect you from injuries and death during a car accident. In the U.S, the use of seat belts was made compulsory as far back as 1968 with the promulgation of Chapter 301 of the United States Code on Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. This federal law required the installation of seat belts on every vehicle with the exception of buses.

Driving without buckling your seatbelt is considered a serious offense not just in the U.S, but also in most countries around the world. This further highlights the importance of your seatbelt as a safety and protective device in your vehicle. If you were hurt in an accident, the expert legal team at Goodrich & Geist, P.C, will assist you.