Seat belts: don’t leave home without using them

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Kirk Rowe
  • 35th Medical Group Life Skills Flight commander
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  General George S. Patton, actor James Dean, Princess Diana of Wales, race car driver Dale Earnhardt, and 1980 Olympic hockey team coach Herb Brooks all have something in common. With the exception of Dale Earnhardt whose seatbelt was defective, they all died in automobile accidents and none were wearing seat belts.

It cannot be known whether any of these individuals would have survived had they been properly belted; however, research shows that an individual's chance of surviving most automobile accidents are greatly enhanced when using a seat belt.

When a collision occurs, the automobile stops abruptly, but the individual inside continues moving at the same relative speed that the automobile was moving unless this individual was properly restrained by a seat belt. If unrestrained, the person's body (and brain) are thrown against the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield, and worse yet, possibly ejected from the vehicle.

In my experience of the approximately 150 patients who suffered a brain injury due to an automobile accident, only two were wearing seat belts. The other 148 were not belted in their car and did not have an airbag. Professional experience and research shows that the use of seatbelts and airbags prevents many people from experiencing a significant brain injury.

One study showed that individuals are at a significantly higher risk (24 percent) for injury if they are involved in an automobile accident and are unrestrained. Another study demonstrated that individuals who were involved in accidents when they were restrained and when an airbag deployed sustained facial injuries at a rate of one in 449, compared with a rate of one in 40 for individuals who did not use seat belts and did have an airbag. Still another study indicated that air bag deployment reduced mortality by 63 percent, lap-shoulder belt use reduced mortality by 72 percent, and combined air bag and seat belt use reduced mortality by 80 percent. Hence, the results suggest that the use of seat belts or combined with the use of airbags results in a decrease in physical injury, brain injury, and mortality.

There is ample evidence in practice and research that clearly shows how seatbelts and airbags help prevent morbidity and mortality. On Misawa seatbelt usages is mandatory.