Please wear your seatbelts

[Mark Hofman]

(Warning - this is an adrenaline induced post.)



Was working in the house today alone when a loud thump caused me to go to the front door and look out. A green car was in my front yard, having hit one of our three sweetgum trees. The car ended up facing the opposite direction it had been going prior to hitting the tree.Two teens - a boy and a girl - were out of the car walking around. He was obviously injured because of the blood pouring down his face.



I yelled at them to get away from the car, which was steaming/smoking (the front end had a nice tree-shaped indentation into the engine compartment) and went to call 9-1-1. Went back outside, yelled at them again to get away from the car and saw a third teen sitting on the grass next to the back driver's side door. When I told her to get away from the car she told me she couldn't walk, so I picked her up and carried her to the front porch. Her legs had some good contusions, and she was in a state of hysterics. I asked the boy if they had turned the engine off and he said they hadn't, so I went back to shut the ignition off. Both airbags deployed and there was blood all over both. Got icepacks, and hand towels to use as bandages. Got blankets for all three of them (it's raining today) and waited for the ambulance to show up, which it did fairly quicky.



Listening to the medics and the police ask questions, I was stunned to learn that the girl I carried to the porch came to in the FRONT seat, even though she had been sitting in the back seat when they hit the tree!



It's all over now, the kids are at the hospital, and the car has been towed away.



If you have teenagers, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell them slow down on wet roads and buckle up. I'm just guessing that they were not obeying the speed limit, but this could have been a whole lot worse. My brother witnessed an accident where the driver's body broke off the steering wheel ring and she was fatally impaled on the steering column.



Wear your seatbelts please. My front tree could have well been another car, perhaps even your own.



Have a good (and safe) weekend, everyone.

 

[Greg Meyer]

Whoa! Mo I am glad you wren't out mowing the lawn...

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

I don't like wearing a seat belt but I do it, and I'll bet those kids do it too when they can get in a car again. It's great advice Mo and they should thank God you were there to help them out.



Uncle Billy

 

[Larry Harp]

About 13 or 14 years ago my bosses daughter was killed in a head-on. She was riding in the backseat and ended up in the front seat ...of the other car. It was one of the most tragic things I've ever experienced. She was such a beautiful girl, just getting ready to start her freshman year at OU. Her parents were devistated. I can only imagine how they felt.



I used to be about 50/50 on buckling up but I got more conscious of it when I saw a public service announcement one time that said, "When you are traveling in a car at 55 miles per hour (the speed limit back then) and the car hits a stationary object, it stops instantly...however you continue to travel at 55 miles per hour until you hit a stationary object."





Harpo

 

[Ken Sabin]

Sorry, so long, but this has touched a nerve......



Having been in law enforcement for the last 25 years Ive seen more than my fair share of traffic accidents. Everything from fender benders to total and complete devistation, to include fatalities. Sure we all hear about the perils of driving while intoxicated, but driving too fast kills and injures more than you'll ever know. You'll never know because it is socially acceptable to exceed the speed limit. Try getting on the interstate and drive the posted limit. I dare you !! I know that for those of us in the Washington, DC area you will take your life in your hands doing this. I see some of the most unsafe driving when Im in a marked vehicle. People roar up and hit the brakes when they see me.



As for seat belts. Ive seen them save countless lives. People walking away from vehicles so mangled you cant determine the make or model. A few years back when air bags were first intoroduced an officer was hit head on- headlight to headlight. He was responding with lights and siren and someone crossed the double yellow line and hit him. EVERYTHING in and on that vehicle was destroyed. The air bags and seat belt saved his life, he's alive and well.

Through accident reconstruction The University of Virginia analyzed all the data, they determined that the impact was equall to him driving into the solid, immovable wall at over 125 MPH. Dont get me wrong he was injured, a broken nose from the air bag, 2 broken wrists from gripping the steering so tight and and broken collar bone from the seat belt, numerous cuts from flying glass. The other driver was killed, probably instantly. No air bags and wasnt wearing his seat belt.

Unbelievable.



I wish I could gain access to pictures of his vehicle. You wouldnt believe your eyes.



People, wear the damn belts, buy vehicles with air bags and slow down !



OK. Im done.

 

[Ken Sabin]

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I'm a living reminder. I had a head on accident with a semi on the interstate when I was 18. Had my girlfriend in the jeep. The truck hit me 6 times until the jeep finally flipped off the highway. I was in a coma for 3 weeks, my girlfriend got 3 stitches on the top of her head. Since then, never an issue with me.



TOXIC

 

[TritonGlenn]

Yep - me too. Head on collision in my S-10 Blazer. I walked away with broken fingers, broken right wrist, broken nose, two black eyes, totally bruised upper torso, and bruised knees.... Important part - I walked away from that accident - climbed out of the window to safety. When the insurance adjuster came to see if my Blazer could be fixed, he couldn't find it on the lot. When I pointed it out, he exclaimed "THAT is a BLAZER???!!!". Final virdict on the insurance adjuster - not a single "salvagable" body panel on the entire vehicle. Took him all of about 10 minutes to write it up. I of course was wearing a seatbelt.

All the best,

Glenn

 

[Greg J.]

Another thing is to securely place small children (infants/toddlers) in a proper child seat that fits them. You will not/cannot hold onto that child when in a collision. If you know of people who do not use child seats (even though it's a law in a number of states), convince them to use the proper seats.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I know what you mean Glenn, there wasn't 1 inch of straight metal on my jeep. All 4 tires were folded up underneath and the hood was wrapped around the windshield which was rolled into the interior, basiclly looked like a huge ball of metal. The impact was so intense that I bent the steering wheel into a figure 8 and it got pushed under my ribcage, they had to cut it to get me out. The reason I got injured so bad was that when I saw what was going to happen (so I was told by my girlfriend because I lost my memory starting 2 weeks before the wreck), I reached over and pushed her under the dashboard. Probably saved her life. The State Trooper who investigated said he had never seen a wreck like that where anybody lived let alone 2. BTW, he was on scene and I beat the holy living crap out of him and 2 EMT's while they were trying to 1. get me out and in the ambulance and 2. Get an iv started once in the ambulance. He was at the hospital when I got discharged (with 2 black eyes).



While in the coma I had a little talk with the man upstairs and I can tell you that all those stories about the white light are true. Made me a believer in more ways than just seat belts.



TOXIC

 

[TritonGlenn]

Here's a picture of my Blazer:

All the best,

Glenn

 

[TrepMan]

MO - Very glad the kids were alive and no one else was hurt!!! Like everyone else I have a story (2 quick ones actually) and they are related to WaterWings reminder about kids seats! Both of my boys (once each) before they individuay turned 7 years old were in signifigant wrecks that totaled the vehicles they were in! My wife and Noah in the '99 Honda minivan got hit broadsided and both Noah and Beka walked away without a scratch due to seatbelts and the child 5 point safety seats. My mom and Eli where in a 4 car pile up in my Mercury wagon, both Mom and Eli walked away with out a scratch for the same reason! My boys, now 7 and 10 STILL ride if the 5 point harness safety seats (can't remember the brand, but both are Husky models good till ike 80lbs and 2-3 more inches tall then my boys are). Some of their friends make fun of them for still riding in "baby seats", to which my boys have been coached to respond "Do you know what kind of safety belts racecar drivers wear?? No?? 5 point harnesses! My mom and dad want me as safe as possible thank you!"



Trep

 

[Rich Stern]

Yes. Buckle up, everyone. Just like the governor of New Jersey.