Assessing the risk versus benefit of wearing seat belts

While lamenting the recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis, my barber admitted to being so phobic about careening into rivers (we live along the banks of the Saint Croix) that he routinely unbuckles his seat belt so as not to be left hanging as his car slowly sinks below the water’s surface. The fear is that his body weight will keep the locking mechanism in place. My theory is that without the belt restraint any occupants of the car will be bashed about and lose consciousness, which could be prove fatal when going underwater. These differing views come down to my assessment of risk versus benefit relative to the odds figured by my barber.

This morning I heard a report on the local TV news that two teens, cousins, died in a two car collision where none of the occupants wore seat belts. The local sheriff told the reporter that in his opinion, no one would have been killed had they belted up. However, a relative of these unfortunates said that when they were children a family member had perished in a rollover in which the deciding factor was being trapped by a seat belt, thus they eschewed these restraining devices, thinking them unsafe. The irony of this assessment of risk versus benefits, proven wrong by this tragic event (or were they just unlucky?), is heart-rending.

Here is a statistic that tells me it's best to buckle up: More than four-fifths of people in Minnesota wear seat belts, but about half of all people killed in car accidents went unrestrained. Think about it.

My awareness about preventing injury from car crashes is heightened at the moment due to me having just completed a defensive driving course. Minnesota law requires insurers to provide a 10 percent discount to anyone doing this at least once every three years. I’ve gone through the course twice now and found it helpful each time – getting good reminders of things I already knew and learning about a few changes in what the experts advise for certain situations. Odds are that anyone who drives regularly (I am averaging 20,000 miles per year), will be involved in an accident about every 10 years, according to MetLife Auto – my insurer who sponsored the course on defensive driving. Being a fan of statistics, I do have one beef with them – this quote puts me off:

“By learning to drive more defensively, you can reduce your chance of becoming the next statistic.”

I would think one would want to become a statistic because statistics are a good thing! However, I am certain that this attitude is held be a very small minority of the population, most of whom would much rather risk their lives than be subjected to statistics.

Anyways, be careful out there. Watch out for the other people. Put on your seat belt and drive defensively. That’s my assessment of risks versus benefits and I am sticking to it.

PS. This photo pictures the remains of what was once one of my favorite cars – a ’96 Ford Contour that I passed along to one of my daughters. She got hit by a Cadillac Escalade. Both drivers wore their belts and got protection from air bags, so although they were ambulanced to the local hospital, neither one suffered any apparent injury and walked out under their own power.