When you get in the car, the first step is usually putting on your seat belt. If you don’t put it on the proper way, though, you may do more harm than good. That safety belt may actually increase the severity of any injuries you sustain during an accident. These are some common ways people misuse them and the potential complications from misuse.
As a helpful hint, always be honest with a car accident lawyer about any seat belt laws you broke. Evaluators can tell who was properly buckled during the accident.
Wearing the Shoulder Strap Behind Your Back
The shoulder strap can be a bit uncomfortable, especially if it rubs against your neck or digs into your shoulder or collarbone. While you may naturally feel it’s easier to put the strap behind your back to stop the discomfort, the belt won’t provide any restraint in the event of an accident. The top half of your body may fly forward, allowing your head to hit the steering wheel or dashboard. You’ll also increase your risk of whiplash.
The lap belt works along with the shoulder strap, and without the top portion, your abdomen may feel more pressure during an accident.
Positioning the Shoulder Strap Under Your Arm
The force of an accident doesn’t disperse evenly when you put the shoulder strap under your arms. Instead, a collision will apply concentrated pressure that can lead to internal injuries or rib fractures. You put your internal organs at risk this way and could end up with internal bleeding. Your upper body also won’t have adequate restraint, so you could sustain a head injury if your body goes forward during an accident.
Leaving Your Belt Too Loose
Your safety belt may feel uncomfortable when it’s tight, but it’s doing its job. While you can loosen it a bit to make it more comfortable, it should never be truly loose. When it’s loose, you can move about in the seat belt without much restraint. With too much room to move, you could easily hit the window, dashboard, or steering wheel during a collision.
Neglecting to Wear Your Seat Belt at All
Concussions, whiplash, and generalized brain trauma are all possible when you’re not wearing a seat belt because your body is pushed in a direction without anything holding it back. You could easily hit your head on the steering wheel or dash, or be propelled in a forward-and-backward motion that damages the soft tissue and possibly the nerves.
Severe injury isn’t the only serious outcome from a collision when you aren’t wearing your seat belt. Close to half of all passenger vehicle fatalities entail occupants who weren’t wearing seat belts. Possibly even more shocking, on average, one person dies in a car crash without a seat belt every 50 minutes.
Make it a point to put on your seat belt as soon as you sit down in the seat. That way, you never forget to wear one.
Failing to Adjust the Seat Belt for Your Height
When you get into a car, especially if you weren’t the last person in that seat, adjust the seat belt for your height. Not doing so can increase your risk of neck, face, chest, spine, pelvis, and head injuries, depending on how the belt fits. In the more serious cases, you could suffer from an ejection-related injury when the belt doesn’t hold you in place correctly.
Your safety belt provides the most support during a collision when it rests across the center of your shoulder. The lap belt should sit across your hips, snugly but not too tightly.
Some actions to take to ensure the seat belt is positioned for your height include:
- Move the seat forward or backward
- Raise or lower the seat
- Tilt the seat back
- Adjust the headrest
- Use a shoulder belt height adjuster
- Use a cushion
Letting Passengers Share One Seat Belt
If a car accident happens and two people are in one safety belt, neither person has enough restraint to prevent injuries. They could even bump together during the accident, causing head injuries or internal trauma. The seat belt isn’t dispersing weight evenly for either person, which can cause concentrated pressure that leads to organ or spinal injuries.
When the seat belt can’t hold both people in the seat fully, ejection is a possibility. By having two people in one seat belt, even safety features like airbags are less effective for both individuals because of their positioning in the seat.
Reclining the Seat Too Far Back
Although you can adjust the seat to make the safety belt comfortable or fit your height, you shouldn’t recline it too far. At this point, the seat belt can’t secure you in place. You risk sliding under the belt during an accident, which can cause spinal or abdominal injuries.
To prevent this, only recline your seat back slightly if you desire. That way, the belt will hold you in place in the event of an accident.
Wearing the Seat Belt Twisted
You might get in the car, put the belt on, and not even notice that it’s twisted. However, that twisting reduces its effectiveness. When it doesn’t lie flat on your body, it can’t evenly distribute force. The pressure may be concentrated on small areas instead, possibly contributing to organ damage or spinal trauma. Anytime you put a seat belt on, take the time to make sure it has no twists.
An experienced car accident attorney can help if you’ve been in a collision. Whether you wore your safety belt during the accident can affect your case. But legal assistance can help you obtain the best outcome for the situation, no matter how (or if) the safety belt was worn.
