The safety of seat belt

An average Nigerian driver gets into a car without minding and observing the driver’s seat drill, kicks and zooms off. If one calls his attention to it, it is either he shrugs it off, or complains of inconvenience, “na God dey save person jare”, “I ain’t just cool with it you know”, “I feel caged”, […]

An average Nigerian driver gets into a car without minding and observing the driver’s seat drill, kicks and zooms off. If one calls his attention to it, it is either he shrugs it off, or complains of inconvenience, “na God dey save person jare”, “I ain’t just cool with it you know”, “I feel caged”, “this seat belt thing ain’t just cool with me jor”.
Have you experienced some road traffic crashes, where human beings get into some weird spots, corners and holes caused by the effect of the collision? Have you taken time to ponder why the body of a vehicle has to be axed or stretched to get human body parts out ofspecific entanglement? It could have been avoided if they had taken advantage of the vehicle’s sealt belt facility.
Automobile designers and manufacturers had safety in mind when they proposed that seat belt facility should be one of the vital components of a vehicle. It then becomes absurd that the end user of the vehicleswho is the beneficiary of this safety device, kicks against the use of it.
It is a fact that road traffic injury is a leading cause of death around the world. Approximately 1.2 million people die yearly in road crashes worldwide, with about 50 million people injured.
Seat belt is about the most effective safety device in a vehicle, aimed at reducing the severity of injury to vehicle occupants Failure to use the seat belt is a major risk factor for road traffic deaths and injuriesamong vehicle occupants, as passengers who do not wear seat belts suffer frontal crash and are most likely to suffer head injury. Let us not forget that men, women and children are not spared in the event of any crash.
It has been projected that by year 2020, road traffic deaths will increase by 60% worldewide and by 80% in Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that road traffic injuries will rank third among cases of disability-adjusted life years lost.
Now that such projection has been made, is it not a wake up call for all road users irrespective of personal driving norm, orientation and the environmental condition to comply with all necessary driving ethics and the use of seat belt?.
The story of a certain Mr. Okoro is a good lesson to draw from; while on a trip with his wife, he was involved in a crash. He hit the windscreen, breaking it with his head and sustained a serious degree of injury. His wife, who was wearing her seat belt was not injured and called out for help. Mr Okoro died before they could get him to a nearby hospital because of the injury and loss of blood. Today, Mrs Okoro is a widow. If only Mr. Okoro was wearing his seat belt, the story would have been different.
Injuries sustained when not wearing seat belt can be up to five times greater. Many think air bags in recent models of cars can serve as a safety measure, but it is not without it’s disadvantages. No doubt, air bags save lives. But this safety device which is designed to supplement the protection provided by seat belts can also cause serious injury or even death under certain circumstances. Most air bag systems have a very low deployment threshold and open with an explosive force. One can substantially reduce the risk associated with air bags by taking a few simple precautions, which takes us back to seat belts. Always wear your seat belt in the following ways: adjust the seat belt properly, place the lap belt as low as possible over the hips, not over the abdomen; ensure the shoulder belt lies on the chest and over the shoulder and do not leave any slack in the belt. Whenever in a car, especially when travelling, adjust the vehicles front seats as far to the rear as possible to give the air bags much room to inflate in order to avoid shock when hit. 
The use of seat belts is compulsory for drivers and passengers of motor vehicles occupying seats equipped with seat belts. The restraint provided by seat belts save lives and reduces injury. All vehicle occupants should be appropriately restrained with the seat belt when in a vehicle.
Study reveals that private car drivers comply more to seat belt usage than commercial drivers. A study done in Abeokuta, Nigeria, in 2010 reported a compliance rate of 80% for private car owners and 20% for commercial drivers, which is comparable to 62.5% and 25%, respectively. This is a pointer to the fact that commercial drivers need to embrace the use of seat belt more.
About half of all deaths of front seat occupants could be prevented through the correct use of seat belts. Wearing a seat belt prevents ejection from the vehicle. About 75% of drivers ejected during road traffic crash died. The process of forceful ejection brings serious injury or death. This is because the person hits the windscreen and even breaks it with his/her head, therefore breaking the windscreen and injuring his/her head.
May I leave you with an advice, whichever negative angle you see the seat belt from, as a burden, imprisonment,confinement, inconvenience, look at the positive aspect of it. Nigerians must recognize the safety impact of seat belts as it is of immense importance to humman lives both directly and indirectly. Adherance to this life saving measure is key to a sustained reduction in death rate through road traffic crashes prevalent on our roads. Private and commercial road users must make it a life style to save lives together.