Plenty Of Information Supports This Statement
Vehicle Seat Belts Save Lives,
Prevent Serious Injuries
Car accidents are the leading
cause of death for children under
five. In North Carolina, motor
vehicle accidents kill more children
than any single disease or other
type of accident.
If used, available restraint
systems could save 60 to 70 of
every 100 unbelted occupants who
die in crashes.
?University of North Carolina
Highway Safety Research Center
The use of seat belts saves lives
and prevents serious injuries. The
statistics to back up this statement
are available to everyone who
cares. But still, the use of seatbelts
"is a never ending problem," said
Lt. Col. Carmelito Arkangel, chief
of Emergency Medical Services at
Womack Army Community
Hospital, at Ft. Bragg.
The doctor, who has worked in
the Womack emergency room for
two years, said, "I believe that on
ly 10 percent of the people involv
ed in motor vehicle accidents wear
seatbelts." <
As of July 1, a North Carolina
child passenger safely law went in
to effect requiring all children
under 2 years of age to be in an ap
proved child passenger safety
restraint system.
North Carolina is the eighth
state to take mandatory action
against the biggest threat to the
lives of young children. Fort Bragg
also falls under this law.
In North Carolina, violators will
be issued warning tickets for the
first two years and court costs up
to $10 can be imposed thereafter.
"Fort Bragg does not issue a
warning ticket, but if the military
police observe children who are
restrained, they will stop the
motorist, and explain the law to
them," said 1st Lt. Amy L.
Lithgow, traffic safety officer in
charge, XVIII Airborne Corps and
Fort Bragg, 16th Military Police
Brigade (Airborne).
Fort Bragg Regulations state
that the use of seatbelts by the
operator and passengers riding in a
United States government vehicle
is mandatory. The regulation also
states that the installation and use
of seatbelts by Army personnel
driving privately owned vehicles on
Fort Bragg will be strictly adhered
to.
"Overall, people need to use
seatbelts more," stressed Lithgow.
"People are under the assumption
that seatbelts prevent them from
getting out of the vehicle. Many
times what happens in the event of
an accident is, the driver is knock
ed unconscious by hitting the
windshield. If a person were wear
ing a seatbelt, this wouldn't have
happened," she concluded.
"For some reason, so many peo
ple have a bad idea about
seatbelts," said Spec 6 David R.
Root, assistant non-commissioned
officer in charge of Nursing
Education and Training at
Womack. "I don't knovs where the
rumors start, but the statistics and
facts prove just the opposite."
According to a study by the
Governor's Highway Safety Pro
gram, less than one out of every
200 injury-producing crashes in
volves fire or submersion in water.
"Wearing a seatbelt would give
you a better chance of being con
scious and getting out of the vehi
cle." stressed Root. The study
also states a person's chance of be
ing killed is 25 times greater if
thrown from a car.
"The major injuries to patients
not wearing seatbelts in motor
vehicle accidents are head and neck
trauma, to include spinal injury,"
said Arkangel. "The next major
injuries are to the hip because the
victim's knees are pushed into the
dashboard."
When asked if there were any
specific cases where a person was
injured due to wearing seatbelt,
Arkangel recalled a patient who
wore his seatbelt improperly by
wrapping it around his arm. A
stretched muscle resulted, but the
doctor added, "If he were not
wearing a seatbelt, he probably
would have died. As a direct result,
I really can't recall any case where
a seatbelt caused more injury."
Besides the adult who chooses
not to wear a seatbelt, many
children are unprotected in
automobiles out of no choice of
their own. "I think it's criminal to
have children and not protect them
in a car seat or seatbelt," Root
pointed out. "It's a part of defen
sive driving."
"The high incident of death in
pediatric patients are head and
chest injuries," said Arkangel. "In
those cases a lot of the children
die.
"Number one?children should
not be in the front seat," he con
tinued. He then gave some ex
amples of injuries children suffer
when not protected.
"Relative to the body frame, a
child naturally has a bigger head
than an adult. If he is in the back
seat and thrown free, his head will
lead first." He explained that a
child's head is much softer than an
adult's, and that these types of in
juries can even lead to brain
damage.
Children being held by an adult
in the front seat of a car are victims
of more serious injuries than the
child in the rear seat. "You not on
ly have the force of the child but
the combined effect of the adult
driving the child into the
dashboard," Arkangel emphasiz
ed.
"Michigan did a nice study,"
the doctor recalled. "It was on the
effects of a parent holding a child
during an accident. A car travell
ing faster than 25 miles per hour
will cause the adult to let loose his
grip on the child during an acci
dent. Worse yet, once the child hits
he's followed by the adult, causing
more serious injury due to the
pounds of pressure." To stress the
point Root asked the question,
"Can you imagine being the parent
of a child who saved your life in
such a situation?"
In a similar study done by the
University of North Carolina
Highway Safety Research Center,
it is noted: In a 20 mile per hour
crash, if the adult is not restrained
and he is holding a 15 pound child,
the child can be crushed by the
adult with over a ton of force.
The same study on a restrained
adult holding a child noted the
child would be thrust forward with
a force of over 300 pounds and
would strike the dashboard.
"The little kid has no concep
tion of what's going on." said traf
fic officer Lithgow. "We see many
incidents of children who hit the
dashboard. There're so many but
tons and dials, and even the gear
shift that adds to the cause of in
juries."
Another interesting part of the
highway safety study was the fact
that in over 700 collisions,
unrestrained children were possible
contributing factors if not direct
causes of the collisions. Fifty per
cent of these accidents could have
been prevented if the children in
volved were restrained.
Two examples were given in the
study of children being a direct
cause of an accident. The first was
children falling out of their seats,
thus causing the driver to pull the
wheel to the right of left while try
ing to catch the child. The other
was the driver diverting his atten
tion to a child who was not sitting
down in his seat.
"The average accident I see
results in back injuries or fractures
of the spine," said James C. Cook,
an emergency medical technician
who works with the ambulance
crew at Womack. "The majority
of injuries to the head, back and
neck are due to bouncing around
inside the car. Ninety percent of
the injuries sustained in auto ac
cidents I go to are direct results of
not wearing a seatbelt."
When asked if he witnessed an
accident where a seatbelt was the
cause of an injury or death, Cook
stated, "Those are the accidents
I'm not called to since the victim
walks away unharmed."
Cook then recalled an accident
involving a mother and daughter.
The child was secured with a child
safety seat while the mother did
not wear a belt. When he got to the
scene of the accident the car was
overturned. The mother was in
jured, but, he described, "The
child was hanging upside down.
safely in his seat, without a
scratch."
A tip for parents with small
children is the Cumberland County
Health Department's "Operation
Buckle-up," a program that
enables parents to lease a child
safety seat for $1.50 per month.
Department personnel will also
show parents how to install the
seat properly.
Root feels there is a definite pro
blem concerning the use of
seatbelts. "People aren't concern
ed," he said. "The don't think
about wearing seatbelts until it's
too late. Human nature being what
it is causes people to have a false
sense of security.
"We need to increase awareness
at Bragg," he continued. "Hero's
guarantee that if people wore
seatbelts, it would cost people less
money, fewer deaths and fewer
losses of personnel in training. It's
no use spending the time and
money to train people only to have
them killed in a traffic accident."
Insurance companies are quite
aware of the lack of interest people
have concerning the use of
seatbelts. "Government studies
prove from 80 to 90 percent of
drivers do not wear belts." said
Bill Russell, public affairs manager
of Allstate Insurance Company in
Charlotte, N.C.
Some insurance companies offer
a 30 percent reduction on medical
payment coverage if the owner's
car has air bags. "The reason most
insurance companies prefer air
bags over seatbelts is simply
because the public decides not to
use belts," said Russell. "But for
maximum safety, both belts and
air bags should be used." In a
serious accident the air bag
automatically inflates in a split se
cond, protects, and then deflates.
There are rumors, with no basis,
that have been going around about
air bags inflating during normal
driving conditions and causing
deaths or injury.
Russell stated 17- to 70-year-old
people took part in testing air bags
that were artificially inflated
without prior warning. "Not one
case did it interfere with the ability
to maneuver their vehicles." he
pointed out. "I have personally
been in demonstrations where we
inflated the air bag under normal
driving conditions and there's
nothing to it."
Seatbelts have been around since
the 1930s but it wasn't until the
mid-60s that they became standard
equipment. Studies now indicate
air bags offer greater protection
than the seatbelt, but, at this point
in time, they are standard equip
ment.
An internal study done by
Allstate using figures from the Na
tional Safety Council and the
Motor Vehicle Manufacturers
Association determined that out of
26,750 car fatalities, 10,600 of
them could have been prevented
had air bags been used.
The going rate for having the
full-front-seat air bag system in
stalled is anywhere from S600 to
$750, and that is only if the dealer
is able to do so. Most dealers have
stopped installing the bags because
there was little demand. A full
front bag protects all people in the
front seat compared to seatbelts
which are only equipped for two
passengers.
In total productions as standard
equipment, two atuomakers.
General Motors and Ford, have
estimated the air bag system retail
cost at a little over $200 per car.
Until it becomes a law for all
automobiles to have an air bag
system, people who care to have
them will have to pay much more.
A second device for considera
tion is the passive restraint system
that was developed by
Volkswagen. The shoulder belt is
connected to the door. The driver
and the right front passenger slip
into their seats, and when they
close the door the belt automatical
ly takes up the slack and lies
diagonally across the person's
shoulder. The belt is designed to
allow for reasonably free move
ment during driving. It must also
be connected before the car can
start.
Area Incidents
Air Conditioner. Tools Taken
The following were reported
recently to the Hoke County
Sheriffs Department.
A SI00 airconditioner was stolen
from a window of the West Hoke
School teachers' lounge between
Friday and Monday, West Hoke
Principal Milton Williams re
ported.
Personal property was stolen
from the storage building at the
O'Briant home on N.C. 211 west,
Rt. 3. Raeford, W.W. Watkins of
Raleigh reported August 12.
Someone broke into the building
and stole a SI25 lawn mower, a
$229.45 water pump, 50 feet of
garden hose worth $20, and $150
worth of tools. The thief also broke
into the house but nothing was
found missing.
John Russell Law III of Fayette
ville, representing Cash well Auto,
reported he was fired at on August
18 when he was leaving a lot on
U.S. 401 south following an
argument over paper concerning a
car Law had come to pick up. He
said the man demanded he show
him the paper for the car, and was
holding a gun at the time.
The license tags on the car of
Verleen L. Brooks at Rt. 1, Red
Springs, were lost or stolen about
August 21.
Someone broke into the Charles
McMillan Store on the U.S. 401
bypass August 20 or 21 and stole IS
cases of beer and 10 to IS cartons of
cigarettes valued at a total of S210.
Tammy McMillan, Rt. 1,
Lumber Bridge, reported her home
was broken into August 21 or 22 for
the third time but, as in the other
two occasions, nothing was stolen.
Ted Lee Lindsey of Rocky Mount
reported someone broke into his
pickup truck August 10 or 11 while
he was staying at the Tanglewood
Motel and stole $750 worth of tools
and a rod and reel worth S35.
Janice Shaw of Vass Road re
ported someone stole a pistol
valued at S6S from her purse while
it was at home. She discovered the
theft when she went home August
20 to change purses.
The Raeford Police Department
received the following complaints
recently.
Someone stole an AM/FM eight
track radio from the car of Gene
Harold Jacobs of Rt. 1, Lumber
Bridge, while the car was parked
August 18 in the House of Raeford
parking lot.
Four wire-wheel spoke hub caps
valued at $400 were stolen from the
car of Janet McPhaul of Fay
etteville August 16 while it was in
the House of Raeford parking lot.
WAGON WHEEL RESTAURANT
THURSDAY ft FRIDAY
SHRIMP BASKET
(?bout 20 shrimp)
with FF. Slaw Ct Huahpuppiaa
$3.99
Tali* Out Ordaf* CaN C7M7S2
New People At Burlington
Robert W. Wright joined the
team at the Raeford Plant of
Burlington Menswear on August 9
in the Maintenance Area as an
engineer trainee.
Wright is a native of Indianapo
lis. Ind. He received a B.S. degree
in electrical engineering at Purdue
University in May.
He plays tennis, baseball and
basketball, and likes to hunt and
fish. He is single and will make his
home in Raeford.
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