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The article left out the single most important advice: wear a seatbelt. I did my neurosurgery training at a fairly busy Level 1 Trauma Center (which treats the
by jbandela1 3y ago
The article left out the single most important advice: wear a seatbelt.
I did my neurosurgery training at a fairly busy Level 1 Trauma Center (which treats the most severe trauma) and treated a lot of people involved in car crashes.
Seatbelt use made a huge difference. There could be two people in the same car, and the person wearing the seatbelt was evaluated and released and the person not wearing the seatbelt was taken to the operating room or intensive care unit.
Seatbelts keep you in position to allow the car to take the brunt of the forces instead of your body.
Please, always wear a seatbelt and make sure everyone riding with you wears a seatbelt.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoSince the pandemic began, I've been riding a significant amount in ride-shares and taxis. One universal trait of all drivers is that they will immediately punch it as soon as you close your door. Therefore, it's incumbent on me to work on figuring out my seatbelt and attaching it before closing my door, otherwise I will be struggling with it under pressure. Of course, I'm still under pressure, because the driver is extremely eager for me to close that door already, what the hell is taking me so long? In the taxi service I use, all cars are of the same fleet, so it's not difficult to figure out the seat belt, as long as it's in working order. The ride-share drivers, since these are personal cars, often have some sort of stupid obstruction that lies across the seatbelt buckles and prevents riders from finding them. I don't know why it's so unimportant for ride services that they don't care whether riders are safely strapped in. My parents had a strict policy: "the brakes can't come off until everyone's buckled in." This, to me, is pragmatic and caring advice.
- thdespou 3y agoAnd if possible wear seatbelts in busses as well.
- jamesbfb 3y agoI live in Australia (a country where wearing a seatbelt is instilled in us pretty much since birth, with very harsh penalties for non-compliance) however seatbelts are relatively non-existent in buses, and I have this vague memory that there was a reason for this?
- sokka_h2otribe 3y agoHigh mass, they don't slow down quickly. There are a few papers out there. There are very few things that can decelerate the mass of a buss quickly
- bhattid 3y agoThe primary reason (as far as I'm aware) is because buses are (relatively) more massive and structurally different from cars, so they exhibit different collision physics in the event of a crash. In the event of a crash, the greater mass means any forces can distribute across a greater load and lead to less acceleration for those inside. I think there are more details related to types of crashes (e.g. head-on vs on the side) that are taken into account through a bus's structure and how it's internally designed too, but I'm less familiar with how and why it works.
- PhasmaFelis 3y agoMy understanding is that buses generally reach lower speeds and, because of their mass, a collision is less likely to produce the kind of abrupt stop that throws people through windshields. If a typical car collides head-on with a bus at speed, the car will be thrown back and its occupants whipped around; the bus will keep moving forward with an unpleasant but not devastating jolt. There are exceptions, I'm sure.
- djmips 3y agoException https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Broncos_bus_crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Broncos_bus_crash
- Symbiote 3y agoThat is a "coach bus" (as Canada presumably calls it, a long distance bus or coach). Those do reach highway speeds etc, and at least in most of Europe they are fitted with seatbelts. I note the article says some parents campaigned for seat belts on buses transporting sports teams, so presumably this bus didn't have them.
- deleted 3y ago
- unglaublich 3y agoI think the article assumes you're following the law. No drunk driving, speeding, mobile phone usage or not wearing your seat belts.
- ethanbond 3y agoI don’t think wearing a seatbelt is law everywhere.
- porkbeer 3y agoWhere is it not? I know helmet usage on motorcycles varies, but except for busses and antiques, seat belts are requited, if just to keep the driver in the seat and in control of the car.
- ornornor 3y agoAre there really still places that doubt the safety of seatbelts and haven’t made it law?
- mauvehaus 3y agoTwo words: New Hampshire.
- dotancohen 3y agoI knew someone who killed his friend because he was not wearing a seatbelt. The guy who was wearing the seatbelt was well-restrained in the back seat. But the guy sitting next to him was unbuckled. The unbuckled man flew into the buckled man, and it is only a matter of luck which of the two skulls will crack. As luck had it that day, it was the buckled man's skull which cracked, leading to his death a few hours later. > Please, always wear a seatbelt and make sure everyone riding with you wears a seatbelt. Not only for their safety, but for your own safety as well!
- germinalphrase 3y agoLikewise, secure heavy items in the cabin when possible.
- Qem 3y ago> As luck had it that day, it was the buckled man's skull which cracked, leading to his death a few hours later. Situations like this make me wonder if some kind of helmet would be advisable for use in cars, and not only in bikes and motorcycles.
- dotancohen 3y agoNo, just make sure that everybody is properly buckled.
- Qem 3y agoThe idea is not replace seatbelts or airbags with helmets, but to have an additional safety layer.
- jbandela1 3y agoI don’t think a helmet would be all that helpful. For a person wearing a seatbelt in a modern car with airbags, there really isn’t a lot of hard things to hit your head against. In these situations, the biggest damage to the brain is something called diffuse axonal injury where rotational forces from the sudden acceleration and deceleration cause injury to the neurons. A helmet would not protect you from that.
- calvinmorrison 3y agoAnd if you occasionally cruise a old Sunday show car, there is not shame upgrading that 2 point belt to a 3 point ( if that same car model eventually got 3 points in them)