Getting a call that something happened to their child can truly be a parent’s worst nightmare.
Imagine you are hanging out with your friends on your way to a movie, and suddenly, the car you’re in gets T-boned, and you aren’t wearing your seatbelt.
“June 11th, someone cut me off, and I did not have time to brake. I was going 70mph, and my car rolled three times. I thought I was dead,” 11th grader Paige Rose said.
Teenagers are not really focused on safety. They care more about having fun and hanging out with friends.
Mistakes happen, and you’re supposed to make mistakes as a teenager. Teenagers often forget to text their parents, lock the front door, turn in their homework, and put on their seatbelts when they get somewhere.
That one mistake, though, could be a heartbreaking phone call to your parents.
“Wear your seatbelt, don’t be stupid,” John Hatcher said, “It’s a proven fact they save lives. It becomes a habit and one day I promise it will save your life or a severe injury.”
Seatbelts are the number one safety measure in a car.
“You hop in the car, and it takes two seconds to put it on,” Mason Kirk said, “I have been in a car crash. The car rolled like 2.5 times. We landed on an incline, and if I were not wearing a seatbelt, I probably would have been under the car.”
As a cop, Hatcher said it is just laziness not to wear a seatbelt and that he always hears, ‘I should have worn my seatbelt.’
It could be the reason that saves your life. Teenagers are new to driving, getting their first car, license, and rules.
Thor Rogers, an 11th grader, almost lost his life due to a car crash on August 3rd, 2024. He was hospitalized for a month and in a coma for 10 days. He was not wearing his seatbelt and flew out of the car window as it rolled. He fractured his neck and spine and broke his arm in half. He has been in a neck and spinal brace for two months.
“Wear your seatbelt; it is not worth your life,” Thor Rogers said. If I could go back and put my seatbelt on, I would.”
There are so many distractions in a car that could cause a crash: friends, phones, music, food, and so much more. Getting in a fender bender is going to happen to a lot of people a few times throughout their lives. Mistakes do happen.
What happens when you do not wear your seatbelt and a collision occurs?
Rose said that when she had to crawl out of her car, she was just thankful to be alive. She was wearing her seatbelt and was fortunate enough to just walk out with a burn on her chest and a broken nose.
“Put your seatbelt on and put your phone down. It is not worth your life,” Rose said.
Students at Lakeland High School have been in a collision and have been lucky enough to walk out alive.
There are two sides to every story, and some people refuse to buckle their seatbelts for various reasons.
