Years ago, my father bought a little quarter-midget race car for my younger brother and I to race on the tenth-of-a-mile dirt ovals that were appearing around Southern California back then.The first rule that I learned about driving the gleaming gold-and-white racer was that the car wouldn't be started unless we were wearing all the proper safety equipment. The first and most important piece of that equipment was the safety belt.Six years later, when I was learning to drive a full-size automobile on the streets, again the first lesson in driver's education was to do up your seat belt. By that time, I'd been wearing one frequently enough that it had become a habit. Reaching for the belt was simply part of the startup process that you went through before you put the car in gear.SAVING LIVESYears ago, the state Traffic Safety Commission released a study in Olympia that covered three years of accidents involving seat-belted occupants who had died. It tended to debunk the persistent belief many people hold that properly used belts contribute to fatal injuries.The study looked at 337 fatal crashes in which 446 people died, representing about 19 percent of all auto deaths in 1987, 1988 and 1989. During those years, Washington state recorded 2,099 fatal accidents, during which 2,356 vehicle occupants died.Of those wearing seat belts, 70 percent were in accidents deemed not survivable. However, half of those who died and were not seat belted were in accidents that could have been survived, the study found.The study also showed that the misuse of seat belts - putting the shoulder belt under an arm, for example - can contribute to injuries and even death. There are certain "classic" internal injuries that occur when a lap belt is used without a shoulder restraint, and even spinal damage can occur if just the lap belt is placed above the pelvic girdle.Even these injuries, however, are survivable, as opposed to the destruction that an unrestrained body goes through. The primary purpose of occupant restraints is to prevent the "secondary collision" in a vehicular accident, that of soft flesh colliding with the inside of the automobile.Dr. Ron Maier, a former director of the trauma center at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said, "If you look at people coming in from car crashes and listen to the descriptions by paramedics of the extent of damage to the cars, it's clear the use of seat belts just eliminates bad injuries."As a successful survivor of an incredibly horrendous automobile accident, I can attest to the importance of seat belts."I'm just going down the block..." isn't a valid excuse for not doing up your belt, either. Most of the accidents that occur on the streets today are within 25 miles of home. My accident was, and I was doing less than 40 mph. It just depends how fast you stop the car; I hit a building that didn't move an inch.STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENTRoadside observation has shown that only 65 percent of Washington vehicle occupants wear seat belts. That's better than belt use nationwide, which was 49 percent in 1990, according to transportation department figures.A good friend of mine - like an estimated 39 percent of vehicle occupants who defy state law (enacted in 1987) - still refuses to use her seat belt. She endlessly claims one excuse after another, and I dread the day that I'll visit her at Harborview - or worse.Gary McDaniel can be reached at needitor@nwlink.com.[[In-content Ad]]
