There are no accidents.

by

Yes People this is sort of a PSA.

You’ll have that sometimes.

Once upon a time I was a young MizFit.

Nothing bad had ever entered my world and I was lolloping through life as only the young & carefree can do.

And then one night a group of friends (I’d planned to go and had backed out at the last minute for reasons I cant even recall) were in a really bad car accident.

Really bad.

One friend sustained internal injuries which kept her hospitalized for a while all due–the doctors said–to the shoulder harness seatbelt worn in the back seat.

Ever since then Ive chosen not to wear my seatbelt when riding in the back.

CHOSEN.

And, to make matters worse, I ride in the back a lot lately as the Tornado is in a phase of wanting Ren Men to pretend he’s our chauffeur (I know. How much do I love that kid?!).

Until yesterday.

Until I met a woman who lost her daughter in a car accident and whose daughter would have lived had she been wearing her seatbelt in the back seat.

For some reason this chance encounter shook me to my core.

Im a firm believer there are signs everywhere (movie? ANYONE??) & as she generously shared her story with me I vowed never to ride in a car again ANYWHERE without wearing my seatbelt.

No more rationalizations (I really believed my choice was the smart one as Id NEVER ride in front sans-belt!) or poor role modeling for the Tornado.

I ask you to take a moment and click over here to my new friend’s face book page, join if you are so moved, and REGARDLESS join ME in vowing never, ever to ride in a car without clicking your belt.

Front seat or back.

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Comments

  2. Carla,
    Thanks for sharing so openly about your experiences.

    When I was in high school, a girl in my class died in a car accident – that would have very likely not have happened – had she been wearing her seat belt. A sad, sad day…

    Seatbelts, since then, are always worn – and something that has just become habit for our kids.

  3. I can not emphasize enough how this encounter made my arm hairs stand on end.

    for YEARS Ive made the conscious decision NOT to click-it in the back seat.

    never again.

  5. As (Involuntary) tears fill my eyes…I must confess…As much as I am in my car, I almost NEVER “Make It Click” I will not let a single soul get in with me without putting on their seatbelt, and yet, I still don’t wear it. Not even the threat of a TICKET would make me CLICK IT… But YOU, My Dear Friend, JUST DID!!!!! Thank You…*Hugs*
    Love Ya Lots,
    Dr. Mo

  9. Ha! I don’t in backseat either but I make everyone riding with me in the back put them on. Thanks 4 this. I don’t often ride in the back but when I do I will def buckle up.

    Thank u 4 sharing

  10. Thanks Carla.

    I would urge anyone who isn’t sold on seat belts to click that Face Book link.

    (I don’t know them either. Just moved by the page)

  11. I won’t even put the key in the ignition until I know everyone is wearing their seat belts. But then again I’m also the driver who uses her blinker in an empty parking lot…

    I’m all warm and fuzzy knowing your securely fasten from now on!

  12. I would never drive even a FOOT without the belt on in the front.

    I tend to be far more lax in the back seat.

    I will not be anymore.

    You rock, Miz.

  14. I don’t know why but buckling my seat belt has never been an issue for me. I remember riding in a friend’s car who had a dysfunctional seatbelt and being sick to my stomach the entire ride.

    I never had an experience (that I remember) that would have emphasized the importance of clicking it either, but it’s always been important to me.

    Thanks for reminding all of us!

  16. Thanks for sharing her story – and yours.

    I’ve always been a back seat buckler, but totally get why you weren’t. (Had that happened to me I wouldn’t have been either)

    I feel such sadness for JoAnn and her loss.

    But moved by her strength to spread awareness.

  17. Yes, I got in the habit of buckling up for safety when my children were small. And 5 yrs ago, I found the truth in that habit. I was in a fender bender myself. The seatbelt and airbag CAUSED my injuries. Broken ribs.

    And I am grateful…If not for the air bag and the seat belt, I would have gone through the windshield and not be here today…….

    You just never KNOW!

  20. I am beyond touched how many of you have joined their FB page (is that the proper teminology? Im not a ‘booker :)).

    THANK YOU.

    THANK YOU.

  21. I’m glad you are now a back-seat clicker…I’ve always been a buckle upper, and it’s so tragic when you hear about people like this lovely girl who most likely would have been alive had she been buckled up. Glad her family is doing this campaign as there are a lot of Texans who do not buckle up. Thanks for the PSA! 🙂

  23. It really is a blessing for you that you learned this lesson before something happened to you or your Tornado.

    I’m sorry for your friend’s loss.

  24. Having started driving before seatbelts, I so appreciate the safety and security that seatbelts bring.

    Remember Newton’s laws of motion, that a body in motion will stay in motion.. etc. And remember: YOUR BODY IS SEPARATE FROM THE CAR. In an accident, the car will stop suddenly; you? unrestrained? will keep moving.

    In grad school I did some research on airbags/seatbelts with shoulder strap. In an accident:

    -the waist belt stop 50% of your forward momentum. This is often enough to prevent death.
    -the shoulder harness will stop 40% of the remaining forward momentum. Primarily in the upper body.
    -the airbags will stop the remaining 10% of forward momentum.

    Considering how dramatically everyone believes airbags are-imagine the effect of wearing your seatbelt and shoulder harness.

    • I am so thrilled that is MizFit took the time to blog about Ashleigh and ARK. I hope you will all join ARK on FB. Together we can save lives. Tomorrow would have been Ashleigh’s 28th birthday. What perfect timing to have this posted. I can’t thank MizFit enough. XOXOXO
      JoAnn Kamerman

  25. Great post – thanks for the reminder.

    Even if your friend sustained internal injuries caused by the seat belt, she could have been much worse off without it – if she was slammed into the front seat or ejected.

    I have a friend who was injured by an air bag, but she would have been injured more by the steering wheel, windshield or street.

  26. I always wear my seat belt, regardless of where I sit or who’s driving…and everyone who gets in my car knows I dont move the car until all seat belts are on…it’s not an option 🙂

  27. Glad you’ve made the decision to protect yourself! Living in a state w/o a seatbelt law for adults, I get chills every week when I read newspaper stories of fatalities involving someone thrown from their vehicle. Too often it’s teenagers. I can’t even back out of my own garage w/o buckling up, it’s a habit & obsession. Be safe, all.

  28. I had a similar thing happen when I was a child …out in front of my mothers office there was this horrific accident that involved a mother and her child
    now this was when it was ok for kids to ride in the front seat and seatbelts were still not a big deal (early 80’s) the mother was injured but ok, she had her seatbelt on while her daughter did not she was sitting and playing in the front seat and somehow the accident threw her in the floor board and her head got caught up under the dash board..so hear the mother is sitting in an ambulance listening to her child scream because they cant even pull her out they have to cut her out. Thankfully both were ok in the end but from that day on my mother and now me both wore our seat belts. Particularly with children it drives me crazy seeing kids not belted in properly, there are laws for this for a reason even at 9 or 10 years old if your child does not meet the weight AND height req’s they still need a booster and everyone always needs a belt. The chances of being hurt while wearing one are far lower than the chances if you dont wear one!

  29. MizFit, only you would meet someone and then immediately blog for their cause.

    Thank you for all you do.

    I needed this reminder.

  31. I am so glad to see this. My brother was killed in a car accident. Didn’t have his seat belt on and was thrown from the car. Ever since, I’ve been a freak about people wearing seatbelts.

    Case in point: I made the choice to take 2 cars on our family outing last night because, although we could have all “fit” in my in-laws car, there was no seatbelt for the middle seat. My father-in-law insisted it was okay and he would sit there, but I was adamant. NO WAY. We took 2 cars and everyone was happily *ahem* buckled in. He still loves me 🙂

  32. Thanks for sharing this with us. The Kamerman family is very special to our family, and hopefully this will help spread the word for everyone to always buckle up!!! Please join ARK and lets continue to save lives!!

    Thanks again for sharing this!!!

    Brittany

  33. Amen to always wearing it, front seat or back. My grandparents, who are from Lebanon and wear seat belts for NO MAN, know they have to buckle up in my car. I’m kind of a granny that way! Thank you for sharing, and it is SO TRUE that encounters like this are just…meant.

  34. This gave me chills. I always always wear my seatbelt in the front, but rarely in the back. Will do so from now on. My brother was killed in a drunk driving crash (he wasn’t driving). He was in the front seat and wasn’t wearing his seatbelt even though I’d bugged him and bugged him on so many occasions about it. He might still be with us today if he’d had his seatbelt on. Please wear your seatbelts, people!

  35. I’m glad you met her and changed your mind.

    In the late 80s, I never wore a seatbelt. Leaving work one day, I hopped into my truck and thought, “I’m going to be safe and put it on.” Less than five minutes later, I was rear ended. That seat belt saved me.

    I’ve been a faithful seatbelt wearer ever since, and I’ve been extremely strict about it with whomever rides in my car.

  36. I was raised in the times when kids rode in the front seat and NO ONE wore seat belts. My mom vividly remembers having me in my pumpkin seat (car seat carrier we call it now) and riding right beside her when I was a baby. I am an avid seat belt user–always have been…in the front. I have very often rode in the back seat and NOT buckled up. I will now. You are right, I need to be an example to my boys and they don’t need to be left without a mommy. My mom still hates to wear her seatbelt, she does but she doesn’t like to. Thankfully, I’ve never had an accident.

    Just last week, there was a story on the news here about a rear seat passenger who was killed in an accident b/c she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. Both front seat passengers survived. I often wonder how guilty the driver must feel for NOT having passengers buckle up when accidents like this happen. I know the guilt would consume me. But I also know that I’ve rode in the backseat before and not buckled up and the driver has never asked me if I was buckled or not.

    Thanks, Miz. I joined the group on FB too. Such a wonderful powerful message.

  37. Wow Miz.
    I never drive anywhere without every single person BUCKLED.

    Glad you’ve changed your mind.

    I will join the FB page too.

  38. I was with my neighbor on Friday… her cat had died. And we were talking and I was just offering support and kind of distracting her while her son dug the grave. And she told me that her sister had been paralyzed from the waist down because of not wearing her seatbelt. Such a tragedy.

    I always, but always wear mine. It has saved me before and I feel the benefits outweigh any risks.

    Mind you, I grew up as one of four kids, and my dad used to take us out in his Volkswagon Beetle with two of us in the back seat, and two of us stuffed in that little rear compartment, no seatbelts. But as we got older, we were taught to buckle up.

    All my cat carriers have a slot for a seatbelt and all my cats are buckled up whenever they go in the car. Do it for the Tornado… she needs her mom! She also needs the good example.

    And make your passengers do it too. I had a boss who would protest, but I simply wouldn’t start or move the car until he buckled it. Some things are not optional if you ride with me.

  39. I NEVER drive without a seat belt.. ever, front or back! When my om was alive, I had to force her to use it sometimes but I will not drive or be driven without seat belts.. Thx Carla for sharing.

  41. my brother was in a single car accident sans seat belt in the front…he hit an oak tree. He was drunk. He scratched his finger.
    I wear my seatbelt.
    Why?
    God protects fools and animals and I am neither, he expects me to buckle up.
    The story I will never forget and is the reason I NEVER leave my kids in a running vehicle. A little boy sleeping in the back of a truck in his car seat while his mom ran in to get him food. a recently released con hops in to her truck to steal it. She runs out to get her baby out of the back. he gets caught in the seat belt. dragged to death.
    It changed my behavior as well. I will never leave my kids in the car again. ever.

  43. I have refused to move the car, pulled over to the side and stopped the car and demanded the offender buckle-up or get out. There are no accidents. Seatbelts save lives – always ALWAYS BUCKLE-UP!!!!

  44. Again, the Universe has guided you to where you needed to be to hear what you needed to hear! I never, EVER, go anywhere in a car without my seatbelt, on a motorcycle without a full helmet (even if it’s not the law), etc. I am not a boring person or a overly protective person, on the contrary! However, I do believe that there are situations where you have to be smart rather than look cool or be over-confident that “this will never happen to me!”

    Thank you for this post! Hopefully, it can help others understand the reasons for certain safety rules!

  45. When I was a small child, my mother was rear-ended. Everyone was OK, but I remember her telling me how important it was that I had my seat belt on. When I was 18, I was a passenger in my friend’s car, which slammed into another car while traveling at 55 mph. My side of the car took the full impact of the crash. Her car was totaled. When we hit the other car, I flew forward, being pulled upward out of my seat. I got so close to the windshield that I saw my eyelashes reflected in the glass before me and then WOOOOSH, I slammed back into my seat as my friend managed to skid her car, brake fluid exhausted, to a stop, about 2 feet from a giant redwood tree. I walked away, with barely a scratch. Because I chose to wear my seat belt. It is a sobering experience to have a group of fireman, EMTs police officers, and even insurance agents, tell you one by one that you should not be alive. It is the day I chose to believe that God exists. And it is the day I reaffirmed my vow to always wear my seat belt, no matter what. No one rides without one in my car, and they never, ever will.

    Thanks for sharing this information in your blog. I truly hope everyone takes it to heart and realizes the importance of buckling up.

  46. I thought it *was* the threat of the thought of an accident that caused this PSA.

    I wear my seatbelt all the time. Would not think to not wear it.

  47. I remember sleeping (lying lengthwise) in the back seat of my parents’ car without a seatbelt. I also remember riding in the back of pick-ups with my cousins. I had a high-school classmate die that way.

    Most laws and rules are results of someone’s death.

    This is a good post.

  48. Thank you for this important post.
    What good is blogging about fitness if we aren’t here to worry about getting fit.

    xo

  50. I always buckle my seat belt. I feel naked without it. However, I have not always worn my bike helmet until a year or so ago, when within about a week I heard three stories from three different people about people with horrible consequences from not wearing a helmet. Not that I didn’t know, but like you, it seemed like the universe was sending me a message.

    Isn’t ‘there are signs everywhere’ from Fools Rush In? Such wisdom;)

  51. Great PSA!

    I went to 10 funerals in high school all due to motor vehicle accidents. Many of those kids weren’t wearing their seat belts. Drives me nuts when my father in law drives away without wearing his. It’s an easy thing to do.

    Glad you’re buckling up again! Tornado needs her momma bear!

  52. Don’t, won’t, never have, even when just moving the car from one spot to another in a parking lot.

    Won’t move the car until all are buckled in. Got me into a whale of an argument with brother-in-law once. Since he wanted to get there, he complied.

  54. I will not leave the drive way without triple checking that my kids are buckled in, yet the other day my youngest said, after I got back in the vehicle after stopping at the mail box “mommy you don’t have your belt on”. I told him that our house is just around the corner and he said “safety first mommy”..
    Thanks for the great reminder and honest post!

  55. So. Chilling. Thank you for the reminder. I’m the seat belt nazi in our house but my husband is the great rationalizer on this subject. Am sending him this link NOW.

  56. I too never wear a seatbelt when I’m riding in the back seat. I had a similar experience: a small fender bender. I was in the back seat, and I had much more trauma to my neck and shoulders than I ever would have if I had just bounced off the front seat.(Exception to this rule: Driving at high speeds. At 55 mph+, you can get thrown through the front window if you collided, so a harness would be helpful then!) I just don’t understand state laws that REQUIRE you to wear a seatbelt, ANYWHERE in the car. I don’t put anyone else’s life in jeapordy if I decide not to wear my seatbelt. If I choose to put my own life on the line, shouldn’t that be my right to do so?

  57. I work in pathology in a hospital.
    I have seen the (many) people who are in accidents and did not wear a seatbelts, and did not survive accidents.

    It has reaffirmed what my Mum drilled into me as a kid – Wear a seat belt. I always do.

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