Sadly, several media outlets, including KSL, are reporting that a woman was killed in a car crash when her vehicle hit a concrete barrier on I-80 near 700 East in Salt Lake City. This is near our office in Sugarhouse.

According to news reports, the woman was not wearing her seatbelt and was partially ejected from the vehicle. Although it is unknown whether or not a seatbelt would have saved her life on this particular occasion, many studies by the government have shown that seatbelts do save lives. We do not know the reason why she did not have her seatbelt on, nor will I speculate. The point of this blog is to suggest that we can all do better wearing our seatbelts.

I have been handling car accident cases in Utah for years and years. Most of my clients are from the West Valley City area or West Jordan, although I have clients in every part of the Salt Lake Valley. I can tell you from my experience, based on the severity of injuries I have seen from my clients, that seatbelts do indeed make a huge difference. Not only do seatbelts prevent death, but they also limit how bad injuries are during an accident.

For example, head injuries can be some of the most devastating injuries. Although my clients do survive, they can have severe cognitive and memory limitations for months or even years. This can disrupt everything from work, to school, to even relationships. Many times, although not always, a seatbelt can limit the persons range of movement enough that their head will not strike anything inside the car during an accident, thereby limiting concussions and head injuries.

Some will argue that a seatbelt might limit them from escaping their vehicle if they drive into a river or if the vehicle catches on fire. While that is true, you have to examine the likelihood of those circumstances happening. As I mentioned, I have handled a couple thousand auto accident injury cases. I have never seen either of those scenarios in all the cases I have handled. On the other hand, I have seen quite a few cases where passengers or drivers were ejected from vehicles and killed because they were not wearing a seatbelt. So in sum, in comes down to math. It is very unlikely that a seatbelt will harm you more and highly likely that it will save your life and limit the extent of your injuries.

If you have been hurt in a car accident, call me today. I’d love to help. 801-738-9999.

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