Published: November 30, 2009 01:43 pm      

Points to Ponder - Click it or ticket

So I’m in the middle my usual hectic pattern of cramming several chores into a small slice of time so that I can create more for my favorite activity – doing nothing – and with one final trip from Home Depot to my residence, the task list was about to be completely checked off.

Pulling into the driveway, I found myself distracted from navigating into the garage by these annoying blinking lights in my rear-view mirror.

Yup, one of Gainesville’s finest was right behind me. First thought: I couldn’t have been speeding – It’s impossible to drive fast on Rosedale with all those dips.

Upon handing the officer my license and insurance info he asked, “Is there any reason why you are not wearing your seat belt?”

Generally it’s a subconscious act to buckle myself in before taking a car out of park, but in this instance, I neglected to do so. Officer Schmeidler, however, didn’t neglect to spot me rolling along – unrestrained – behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.

According to Sec. 545.413 of the Texas Transportation Code, it is illegal for anyone, adult or child, to ride in the front seat of a vehicle that has seat belts without having their seat belt properly fastened. It is illegal for anyone under the age of 17 to ride in any part of a motor vehicle without a seat belt if the vehicle is equipped with them. The driver is responsible for making sure all passengers are secured as required by Texas safety restraint law.

Ironically, the only state that does not have a seat belt law is New Hampshire AKA: “The live free or die state.”

Chris Cypert, Gainesville’s Municipal Judge, has contemporary methods for serving up justice. Administering his philosophy that it’s better to learn a lesson than mindlessly stroking a check; he offers first time seat belt offenders a choice of compiling an essay outlining the various hazards and cost to society from not buckling up and the details of your offence – or a $143 fine.

I opted for the essay.

Why seatbelts? Well, in every motor vehicle accident there are actually two collisions. The first one happens when the car impacts some other solid object. At that moment of impact, the passengers are still traveling at the original speed. Just as the car comes to a sudden stop, anyone not wearing a seatbelt will slam into the steering wheel, windshield, other parts of the interior or they can be ejected. In short, when the car stops, you don’t.

It all breaks down to Newton’s principle of inertia - the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion.

The purpose of seatbelts is to prevent the second collision. A properly worn three point restraint (lap and shoulder belts) will keep the body secured so it doesn’t bash into the dashboard, steering wheel or windshield.

In a 30 m.p.h. collision an unbelted 160 lb. person can strike another passenger, crash through a windshield and/or slam into the vehicle's interior with a 4,800 lb. force – the equivalent to falling out of a three-story building.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that 55 percent of those killed in passenger vehicle occupant crashes in 2008 were not wearing a seat belt and 64 percent of those killed during the night were unrestrained, compared to 45% during the day.

Approximately 35,000 people die in motor vehicle crashes each year. About 50 percent (17,000) of these people could be saved if they wore their safety belts.

Seat belt nonuse results in significant economic costs to society. According to NHTSA, deaths and injuries from safety belt nonuse account for an estimated $26 billion in economic costs to society annually. The cost goes beyond the lost lives of unbuckled drivers and passengers – everyone pays in higher taxes, higher health care and insurance costs.

Three out of four accidents happen within 25 miles of home. Approximately 80 percent of deaths and injuries happen at speeds under 40mph. Unbelted drivers and passengers have been killed at speeds as low as 12mph.

An estimated 80 percent of American children area immunized against contagious diseases, but less than 10 percent are properly restrained when riding in a motor vehicle. Additionally, a common cause of death and injury to children in motor vehicles is being crushed by adults who are not wearing seat belts.

The odds of you being killed are 25 times greater if you are thrown from a car. Of those thrown completely out of a vehicle in a car crash, 75% died.

Some have argued seat belts will trap a person if the car catches fire or is submerged in water. Crashes involving fire or water happen in only 1/2 of one percent of all crashes. However, when they do occur the best chance of survival rests in remaining conscious, uninjured, and in full possession of your faculties.

The greatest danger is with the impact that precedes the fire or submersion in water. If you're not using a safety belt, it's very likely that you will be knocked unconscious or severely injured. If you're belted, it's very likely you will be able to unbuckle yourself and get out of a potential fire or submerged car situation.

Air bags are not a replacement for seat belts. They mainly protect against frontal collisions. Seat belts will protect you in frontal collision and in other kinds of potentially deadly accidents such as rollovers, rear-end collisions, and side collisions. Also, in a multiple-crash accident, you need your seat belt since air bags won't reinflate.

Once presented with the facts, I would think anyone who doesn’t wear a seat belt while in a moving vehicle needs to have their head examined.

And those folks probably will – while lying on the coroner’s table.

Armand Nardi is the publisher of the Gainesville Daily Register. He can be contacted at: anardi@ntin.net