Why Young People Continue to Fail to Buckle Their Seatbelts??

Well, you may think you are indestructible or immune to calamity, but it can happen to anyone.  And your life will change in an instant.

Below is a contribution from Ed:

Probably worthy of a blog post, John, but have you noticed the shear number of local area car crashes where occupants have died and were not wearing a seat belt.  It just amazes me as long as we've had seat belts in vehicles, many people still refuse to wear them.  Why do folks not heed the obvious proven safety value of seat belts?  

This accident occurred in Greene County yesterday during the snow that fell rapidly.  Photo of the crashed truck attached here.  My late stepfather was one who never wore a seatbelt and, indeed, when vehicles started to have buzzers or bells that would ring when seat belts were not fastened, he would find a way to disable the bell and then he would sometimes just cut the seat belts out proclaiming them to be "useless" and that in a wreck he'd prefer to be "thrown clear" of the car.  Yes, right.......to land and be impelled by a fence post. 

This local story also sadly reminds me that my late father-in-law was killed in a pick-up truck on ice slick roads in northeastern Ohio over twenty years ago.  The state trooper report, which was shared with us stated, yes, he wasn't wearing his seat belt.

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A young girl is the lone survivor of a double fatal crash this evening in front of Camp Jabez in Spring Valley Township.

XXXXXXXX, 49, of Xenia, was identified as the driver of a 2004 Ford F-Series pickup truck who was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger, XXXXXXX, 73, also of Xenia, was taken with life-threatening injuries to Miami Valley Hospital, where she died, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Xenia Post.

At the time of the crash, reported around 5 p.m., it was snowing and the pickup was headed north in the 3100 block of Ohio 380. The pickup struck a sign, overturned, struck a fence and then struck a tree.

“They were going down a downhill grade, so obviously it struck the tree with a significant amount of force,” Sgt. Richard Milstead said.

A young girl was restrained in a child seat. She suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken to Dayton Children’s Hospital. Neither adult was wearing a seat belt, according to the state highway patrol.