Fatal Auto Accidents Drive Home Message: Seat Belts Save Lives!

Despite advancements in auto safety, thousands of people are still seriously injured or killed every year in auto accidents.

Last month, an 11-year-old Michigan girl was seriously injured after being ejected from a vehicle as it rolled over several times.  Police believe the driver of the vehicle lost control.  Two weeks later, a 19-year-old Michigan teen was killed when he was ejected from his car after slamming into a median.  Witnesses said the man lost control of his vehicle on the ramp before hitting the median.  Speed appears to have played a role in this fatal accident.  Both accidents are still under investigation.

Across the country, three young children died after being ejected from the minivan driven that collided with another vehicle.  The driver of the van was their 16-year-old brother who did not have a valid driver’s license.  Police believe he was trying to pass another vehicle on the right shoulder when he lost control.  When the teen over-corrected, the van veered into oncoming traffic where it was hit by the other vehicle.  Although the investigation is still underway, police believe the 16-year-old driver was impaired.  Arizona accident took the life of a 3-year-old boy after he was thrown through the window of the minivan in which he was riding.  The driver of the van ran a red light and collided with a truck before flipping over.  The driver and three other passengers, all children under 12 years of age, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

What do all of these accidents have in common besides the death of young children?  Although driver distraction, speeding, or inexperience may have played a role in these accidents, in every case the children that died were not properly restrained in a seatbelt or car seat.  Could seat belts have saved these children?  While some auto accidents are so devastating that no amount of safety equipment could have saved the driver or passengers, seatbelts continue to be the single most effective protection device in your vehicle.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates seat-belt use reduces serious injuries and deaths by approximately 50 percent. It is really tragic that people don’t understand or ignore the facts.  At a minimum, seatbelts can prevent an occupant from being or ejected from the vehicle.

Every time you get into a vehicle, the choice is yours whether or not to wear my seat belt. Don’t take this decision lightly. Seat belts DO save lives!

Mark Bello has thirty-six years experience as a trial lawyer and fourteen years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life litigation funding is needed by a plaintiff involved in pending, personal injury, litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Member of Public Justice, Public Citizen, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.