The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Excuses are easy to come up with: "Just running to the store." "It's too hard with this big coat on." Or as one well-muscled guy told a police officer who had pulled him over: "My pecs are too sore from working out." Using a seatbelt can be a bother, especially when you're in a hurry and it's twisted up somewhere behind the seat. But when you think about might happen if you do get into a collision when you're not wearing one, excuses seem pretty thin. Unfortunately, Manitobans have the worst record in Canada for making excuses instead of buckling up. In 2001, only 84 per cent of Manitobans surveyed wore seatbelts, compared with the national average of 90 per cent. See 'Seatbelts' P.# Con't from P.# Worse still, those Manitobans who call the countryside home (as opposed to city dwellers) scored even lower in 2002 on the seatbelt wearing scale, dropping to 81 per cent. In fiscal 2003, there were a record 97 brain-injury claimants in Manitoba road accidents, and a sizeable number of those were thrown from their vehicles because they weren't buckled in, according to Manitoba Public Insurance records. Research also indicates that men aged 16 to 24 are most likely to overlook their seatbelts when driving (78 per cent in the 2001 survey). This number drops to 66 per cent if they're driving a light truck. Sound like someone you know? The good news is that young drivers generally say they understand and realize the importance of wearing seatbelts, but often forget to wear to or are simply negligent. This group is more likely to be swayed by their friendsÉ peer pressure at its finest! The cold, hard truth is that motor vehicle collisions are the number one killer of people under 40. If you wear a seatbelt, you can cut your risk of death or injury by 50 per cent. Case closed Ð one would think! So, whether you're driving or riding, your attitude toward seatbelts does make a difference.
