Car safety belts and my car accident

Car Safety Belts/TBI--My Car Accident

I am here to share with you about my car accident and how safety belts are so important. I hope my story will convince you to wear your safety belt and to encourage & reinforce others to wear their safety belt and why wearing your safety belt will protect your life. The end result is-- now wearing a safety belts is the law. “Click it or Ticket”.

I hear a lot in the news, about teenagers dying from car accidents, because they did not wear their safety belt or they were distracted while driving a car. I just heard about an accident similar to mine---the car goes off the road and into the ditch. Then the car does a flip, the doors pop open, the driver is not wearing a safety belt and ends up dying. I survived my car accident, but I sustained a serious injury that has resulted in a permanent disability.

It was the summer of 1982. I had finished my first year of college and was home for the summer. My 13 year old sister and I were going to drive up to northern Minnesota to visit our grandparents. Remember this was before wearing safety belts were required by law. This was the first time I would be driving up to the lake up north
Of course I remember the day, it was Aug, 23, 1982. We had just finished packing the car and my dad said he could hook the safety belts so we could use them on our 4 hour drive. We said "No", that we were anxious to get going and that we just wanted to get on the road. So we headed out north on HWY 94. When we were near St. Cloud a great song came on the radio and my sister and I started tickling each other. Within seconds I must have lost control of the car. The car ended up in the median and had flipped over, the doors popped open, and since we were not wearing safety belts, we both were thrown out of the car. I wish I could take back those 10 seconds! You do not know how many times I have thought about what I could have done differently that day.

I ended up in the St. Cloud hospital in a coma and my sister had a broken femur and was taken down to the cities to Methodist hospital. I suffered a brain injury and was in a coma for 5 days. Then they transferred me down to the U of M hospital for rehabilitation. I hit my head on the left side so it affected my right side of the body.  I was left handed before the injury so it was nice that I did not have to learn how to write again, but I had to relearn how to walk, talk eat, and other daily living skills. I received occupational, physical, and speech therapy. So now my right leg, arm, hand, and foot are not the same as before the accident and never will be the same. There are a lot of things that I was able to do that I cannot do now.  I have an injury that will stay with me for the rest of my life. There are many things I have relearned and do differently and there are some things I may never be able to do at the level I had achieved before the accident.

I was 19 years old going to college, some may say, in the prime of my life. I was making plans for what I was going to do for the rest of my life; getting prepared for the work life, and suddenly my whole life is turned upside down from an unfortunate car accident with dramatic results.  The car accident was a combination of the factors and choices that were made, they were the distracted driving and no safety belts, which all contributed to some life changing results for me. I strongly feel if I had worn the safety belt, my life would be different. Some examples I live with are: I no longer can play the piano as well as before because my right hand and fingers do not have the movement and dexterity of a normal hand. I had been on the college running team and made it to track nationals in the spring of my 1st year in college, I could not return to South Dakota State University to continue the goals I had set for myself with regard to running. My memory and organizational skills are not 100% anymore. After the accident happened, I was young and I wanted to live life like everyone else, so I worked on going back to college and living life independently. I earned a two year degree, got a job, and lived in an apartment with a friend. I met my husband and we have 3 wonderful children. Life is good but I deal with my limitations everyday due to the long lasting effects of a head injury.

Had I worn my safety belt that day, the injury would have been so much less severe. In 1982, the year of the accident. safety belt laws were not in existence. I am so glad that there is a law now enforcing drivers to wear their safety belts. I am a safety belt advocate.

Safety belts are so important for everyone to wear. You never know what other drivers are doing. Are they driving while they are intoxicated, texting, talking on their cell phone, putting on makeup, or just fooling around? Those are activities that are distracting the focus and ability to drive safely. Everyone needs to concentrate on driving and eliminate the distraction that interfere with safe driving. You need to drive defensively by staying alert to the road and other drivers.

So many things can happen in just a second and that second can't be changed.
 I now wear a safety belt every time I get in a car and it is just so natural and routine to put it on.

Now some highlights to remember:

• I make sure everyone in my car wears a safety belt, and you should too! “Click it or Ticket”
• How many of you wear a safety belt? Good!
• Everyone make a pact that you will wear a safety belt every time you get into the car. “Buckle up for safety”
• Concentrate on driving
• Avoid distractions
• Learn defensive driving skills to avoid accidents
• Think about the safety of yourself and others in your car. Think about other drivers and pedestrians.
• Be a good model to your peers and others by wearing your safety belt
• Safety belts save lives so wear them! “Click it or Ticket”

So my biggest point for you today is:

• Remember that wearing your safety belt is the law “Click it or Ticket” and
• “Buckle up for safety...Always Buckle Up”

Thank-you!