Think Twice Before you Skip the Click

Be honest: do you always wear your seatbelt? 

Even when hopping in the car for just a brief ride? 

Seatbelts sometimes get overlooked on short trips or in crowded cars when it’s harder to find the buckle. Even people who usually buckle up have moments when they’re tempted to skip it. Some people say that they want to have “more movement” when riding around, and claim that seatbelts are “annoying” or “uncomfortable”. However, even more uncomfortable is laying in a hospital bed after being ejected from a car. Or worse, not making it to the hospital at all or back to your family. That is an extremely scary thought and has unfortunately happened to many people. 

Thankfully, there is an invention that can keep you safer. A seatbelt helps reduce the risk of facing such a fate. According to the CDC, people who don’t wear a seatbelt are thirty times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle during a crash. For people who feel confident that they’ve driven in a place for their whole life and know it well enough to not wear a seat belt, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that 50% of car crashes happen within just 25 miles of driver’s homes. 

Finally, to people who usually wear seatbelts, just not on those short rides, it is important to know that 25% of car crashes happen within just the first three minutes of a car ride according to a study conducted by Dolphin Technologies. 

So, let’s make a deal, you and me, okay? 

Even for those short car rides please commit to wearing a seatbelt. And further, if you’re already a seat belt stan,   It might be a small inconvenience, another thing to remember to do before taking off, but it holds an enormous potentially lifesaving benefit.

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For more on staying safe, check out the SADD + State Farm Agents of Change program and learn how to get your local State Farm volunteers involved in your change-making activities.