In most car crashes, it isn’t the speed that kills; it’s that sudden stop.
At 15 mph, a car stops within the first second of hitting a wall.
However, without a seat belt, the person inside that car keeps right on going until they slam into the steering wheel, the dashboard, or hurtle through the windshield and out the other side.
That’s why officers in the Sedona Police Department are asking everyone to buckle up.
By Susan Johnson
In most car crashes, it isn’t the speed that kills; it’s that sudden stop.
At 15 mph, a car stops within the first second of hitting a wall.
However, without a seat belt, the person inside that car keeps right on going until they slam into the steering wheel, the dashboard, or hurtle through the windshield and out the other side.
That’s why officers in the Sedona Police Department are asking everyone to buckle up.
They’ve seen firsthand the difference in outcomes between accidents when drivers and passengers are strapped in and when they’re not.
“There are several things that happen during an accident that equal three separate events,” Sedona Police Officer Karl Waak said. “The vehicle impacts an object; items in or on the vehicle impact the occupant; and then the occupant’s organs slam into their other body parts.”
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, car crashes are the number-one cause of death in people aged three through 34, killing nearly 40,000 people each year during each of the past five years.
Many of them died needlessly, sustaining fatal chest and brain injuries, simply because they weren’t wearing their seat belt.
“Injuries with a belt on are still possible, of course,” Waak said. “[However], very few people involved in an accident with a belt will be killed and their injuries are usually confined to a small area.”
The NHTSA says that properly used seat belts reduce the chance of death in a car crash by 67 percent.
The numbers of deaths resulting from car crashes are the most dramatic only in terms of the loss of potential and the emotional costs to those left behind.
Statistics for injuries are far worse in terms of the numbers affected.
There are 700,000 people per year who are hurt badly enough in wrecks to be hospitalized, and more than a million who need medical attention at the scene.
There’s nothing heroic about not wearing a seat belt nor is there anything romantic about the level of suffering, loss of quality of life and costs of rehabilitation that accident victims must endure, sometimes for the remainder of their lives.
Some people think that buckling up isn’t necessary when they’re just doing a few local errands. However, this is the biggest mistake that can be made, since the vast majority of all car accidents occur within 25 miles of the victims’ homes.
Neither is it true that fatalities only happen at high speeds.
According to NHTSA, 80 percent of all serious injuries and fatalities occur in cars travelling under 40 miles per hour.
To encourage residents and visitors to Sedona to buckle up, SPD is participating in the nationwide “Click It or Ticket” campaign that will begin Monday, May 19, and run through Sunday, June 1.
“We find the campaign is successful during its duration and shortly after,” Waak said.
However, Waak added that seat belt violations cannot be considered for license suspension, and the fine is a relatively low $29.
At present, Arizona’s track record on fatalities is roughly in the middle of the pack in statewide statistics, with an annual average of 14.69 fatalities per 100,000 of population.
Despite being a primary enforcement state, where officers may stop a vehicle even if a seat belt violation is the only thing they notice, Wyoming has the worst record, with an overall fatality rate of 31.99 deaths per 100,000 population, followed by Mississippi and Alabama at 27.80 and 22.33 deaths per 100,000, respectively.
New Jersey and Rhode Island are the least deadly with 4.49 and 4.67 deaths per 100,000, respectively.
Although Arizona’s rate is less than half that of Wyoming, Waak and his fellow officers in the SPD would like to see it reduced.
So, buckle up Sedona.
Susan Johnson can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 129 or e-mail sjohnson@larsonnewspapers.com
