Be smart, buckle up

As a kid we always buckled up. My mom also made my brother and me sit in the back seat, even after we weren’t babies or toddlers or short people. Airbags didn’t even exist, but the back seat was the safest place. I remember my uncle used to make fun of us. Then he had a kid and he did the same thing …
Buckling up in the car has pretty much always been automatic for me. I don’t even think about it I just do it. I used to not buckle up in the back of a cab. Why? Who knows. But the way those cabbies drive you better believe I do it.
I take a shuttle bus from Emeryville to work in South San Francisco. I used to notice some (not most) of the riders would buckle up. For some reason I thought that was a little funny. But I never said anything. Then I realized I was being dumb by not buckling up. If that bus gets in an accident, why do I think I would be safe without a seat belt? So I have started buckling up on the bus. It still isn’t regular practice and sometimes I forget. But soon it will be automatic regular practice and I won’t give it a second thought.
There is really no reason not to wear your seat belt. So buckle up and stay safe. If you get in an accident, the belt will likely keep you safe and in a lot less pain and physical damage to your body and could save your life.
The National Organizations for Youth Safety says this: Research has shown that lap/shoulder seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45% and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50%.
Wearing a seat belt will also keep you from being ejected. Also, according to the National Organizations for Youth Safety says: In fatal crashes in 2008, 77% of passenger vehicle occupants who were totally ejected from the vehicle were killed.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seat belts save more than 13,000 lives every year.
Not wearing your seat belt is your choice … but think how many people your decision could hurt.