“This is Michael. Today he’s going to hit his girlfriend so hard, she ends up with permanent brain damage.”
“Three dead this vehicle; the girl is critical. They say the guy without the seatbelt did the damage.”
“No Seatbelt. No Excuse!”
Seatbelt Wearers: The next time you get into a car and buckle up your seatbelt, look who’s around you and make sure everyone has their seatbelt buckled up. If you don’t, you may never see who killed you in that accident.
Seatbelt avoiders: The next time you get into the car, and don’t buckle up your seatbelt, look at everyone else in the car. It’s the last time you’ll see them alive. You will be the one responsible for killing them.
Many people who get into cars, put on their seatbelt don’t think twice about anyone else in the car. How many times have you rode in a car where someone’s seatbelt wasn’t buckled up? Did you ever think about what would happen in a car accident with them?
An idea that is usually pushed by parents is that you will go right through the windshield killing yourself in the process. This message has a really big drawback – the person being tought this may only be thinking of himself or herself. Parents rarely mention that the one not wearing the seatbelt could hurt or kill everyone else in the car.
This video, produced by DOE/Axa Insurance in Ireland, is one of the most moving videos I’ve ever seen.
Michael and his girlfriend are having a good time in the park when a couple of friends pull up in a blue car. They join them in the car, and Michael’s girlfriend does up her seatbelt; Michael doesn’t. None of them tell him to put it on because they may be thinking that if they get pulled over, it’s his ticket, not theirs. No one thinks of the worst outcome. If they do think of what would happen in an accident, they would think that Michael will be the only one who got really injured or killed as they are all wearing seatbelts.
The movie clip goes on and shows a 2 lane road, with a curve going around a hill, and a street on the right (Where they are, they drive on the left, so making a right crosses the path of oncoming traffic). The driver puts his signal on, and stops as he sees an oncoming car. It’s too late. There’s no where to move as he honks on the horn to alert the other driver. The driver of the oncoming car (probably impared from drugs or alcohol, fell asleep at the wheel, or just wasn’t paying attention) ends up hitting them head on causing Michael to be launched into the front of the car where, on his way, his shoulder hits the driver’s head, knocking it into the driver’s side window. Michael hits the windshield. An approching car from the rear is going too fast around, and doesn’t have enough time to stop before slamming into the car. Michael at this point, is launched back into the back seat of the car. On his way into the backseat, his knee snaps the neck of the front passenger where he collides with his girlfriend, head to head, killing himself, and giving her permanent brain damage.
Do you care about your friends, family and yourself?