Safety Belt Stories

A lot of people are walking around Nebraska with no injuries in their past because they were wearing their safety belt at the right time. While all of these people would not have been killed, they were all in crashes and at least 1 or 2 “should have been dead” according to the State Troopers who assisted them. It’s unknown what kind of injuries may have resulted, because the injuries were avoided by the use of safety belts.

Here are some of the stories:

We were going 5 miles an hour getting ready to turn. We were suddenly hit from behind by a 19-year-old kid who was going at least 40 miles an hour. I don’t know if he was on the phone or just not paying attention or what. There were 4 people in our vehicle and we were all belted and all walked away.”
I was in a crash once and was fortunately wearing my belt. So I taught my children to wear their belts, and just a couple of weeks ago, my son’s life was definitely saved by wearing his belt. His vehicle rolled a few times and I’m so glad I taught him to always buckle up.”
It’s a good thing I was wearing my belt when I hit the deer. The deer was not OK, but I was.”
I was going 70 miles an hour, and was hit from behind by someone going at least 120 miles an hour. I didn’t even see him coming, and he was drunk. The State Trooper said I was lucky I was belted.”
I wasn’t paying attention, and I went through a red light.”
I hit ice, and then slid into a wall.”
I had a bruise across my chest for a month—but it would have been a lot worse without a belt.”
It wasn’t really our fault. Well, maybe we ran the red light but the other guy had to be going through the intersection before his light turned green or we wouldn’t have hit him.”
The car was totaled. We hit an ice spot and crashed the car, but we walked away.”
The safety belt worked really well — I was locked in place. The car was sitting still and I got hit from the side. For some reason, the side airbags didn’t inflate, but the safety belt worked. The side of the car was pushed in and my ribs were sore, but I was fine. You’re stupid not to wear a safety belt.”
On or about Sep 2, 2003 at 1030pm I was traveling northbound on the North Freeway US 75. Just after coming over the hill at the Burt street intersection I noticed 6 cars stalled in the highway. I slowed down and got over into the clear left lane. What I didn't know was the left lane was covered in motor oil. The contents of a previous car's crankcase. I hit the oil slick at 40 mph lost control of my 93 toyota 4runner. I hit the dividing median concrete barrier. As a result my 4runner was tipped over onto the drivers side with me in it.

I was wearing my seatbelt and I was restrained in the vehicle. I quickly reached up and turned off the ignition and took stock in myself. I was able to take off my seatbelt and climb out of my vehicle. I remember what the police officer said to me. \"Mr Holloway you are a very lucky man." I selfishly said,"How can I be lucky when I just wrecked my suv?"

He then stated that "I could be talking to you in a hospital bed with tubes going into you." I thought about it and conceeded that he was right.

Because I was wearing my seatbelt, I walked away from a rollover accident with just a bruise on my arm and a hurt ego.
One beautiful spring morning my husband was driving his combination tractor trailer to a location in Kansas City to make a delivery. We're unsure exactly what happened as far as the cause, but we believe his blood suger caused him to pass out at the wheel and he lost control of the vehicle. (He was diagnosed with diabetes later that same week.) The vehicle jack-knifed, twisted and fell over onto the passenger\'s side, sliding about 50 feet before coming to a stop in the buffer zone (dirt/grass area) of the interstate. During the slide, the glass window in the passenger door shattered and dirt flew into the cab creating a huge dust cloud inside. My husband was wearing his seat belt and just hung there as all the dirt and debris came flying in all around him. Had he not been belted in, he would have fallen to that side of the cab and would certainly have sustained serious injuries and possibly would have been killed as the vehicle slid. Thankfully, he was only bruised where the belt held him in place. He walked away with no other injuries than that!!

Share your Safety Belt Story

If you have story to share, send in your picture and the story of your crash. Share the story of how your belt made a difference to you. We’re glad you were belted!