Some people don’t take their seat belt seriously and end up with tragic or fatal consequences.
Remember that quite often the seat belt can be your life saver. It takes less time than fumbling for your car key and starting the car. So make it a habit. And wear it tight. Not loose for the sake of appearances.
The same goes for the person sitting next to you. Insist that he or she wears the seat belt too. If a person is not wearing the seat belt and the car is running at 100kmph, which is the speed at which most people in Bahrain tend to drive on the highways, and the car gets involved in an accident at that speed, you have little chance of surviving if not wearing the seat belt.
The impact would so severe at 100kmph that your head will hit the windscreen with awful force, smash the glass and will be riddled with shards. And you may either survive with an equally awful medical bill, or leave your kith and kin disconsolate forever, or be reduced to a state ranging between vegetative and partially disabled. You may never regain your poise and persona again.
Same goes for the children sitting in the back seat of your car. If they are young, insist that they wear the seat belt too. While the impact of an accident can be less severe on those sitting in the back seat, remember that for the young and delicate little ones even a minor impact can sometimes be traumatic, injurious or even fatal.
As for the toddlers in the back, they must be seated in their own babyseats. But the tendency generally is to seat a toddler in a babyseat without regard to the baby’s size. Remember that an outsize babyseat with a commensurately longer and looser seat belt offers little protection to a tiny toddler. And a small babyseat for a big toddler is not only uncomfortable to it but its seat belt could turn out to be too tight or short for it.
So choose a proper babyseat and change it for a bigger size at least once after 6 to 8 months until the baby outgrows them and is able to sit on its own in the back seat with belt on.
Happy driving for your family.