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Seat belt and air bag safety tips for Virginia Drivers

Every year it seems like automobile manufacturers are piling on the safety devices in new vehicles. Electronic stability control, side curtain air bags and other modern conveniences have eclipsed such basics as seat belts and frontal air bags in new vehicle advertisements. However, the basic safety devices found in just about every car are the very devices that are saving lives and reducing the severity of auto accidents every day.

For safety devices like seat belts and air bags to do their job, drivers and passengers have to use them correctly. Used correctly, a simple safety device like a seat belt can cut the chance of injury in an accident by 50 percent. If you use your seat belt in a car equipped with air bags, you’ll cut your risk of injury in a car crash by almost 60 percent.

To take full advantage of seat belts and air bags, make sure you are using them correctly. Consider these tips from AAA Mid-Atlantic:

Seat belt use tips

• Make sure that you adjust your seat belt so that it fits low and snug across your hips – not across your stomach. Wearing the lap belt portion of the seat belt across your stomach could lead to abdominal injuries in the event of a car crash.
• Make sure that the shoulder belt part of the safety belt snugly crosses your chest and collarbone.
• Avoid slouching or putting your seat in a reclined position. Your seat belt cannot work properly in either of these situations, putting you at risk for injury. Sit up straight in your seat and protect yourself by keeping your seat back upright.
• Never put the shoulder belt behind your back or under your arm – this could cause your head and chest to hit the steering wheel, dashboard or back of the front seat if you are involved in an accident, leaving you with head and chest trauma or even killing you.
• Children and infants should ALWAYS be properly restrained in an age and size appropriate child passenger safety seat system (child seat or booster seat). Always read the manufacturer’s instructions when installing and using a child seat, as every seat installs differently and has different height / weight limits.
• Pregnant women should ensure that their seat belt is adjusted so that the lap belt fits under their abdomen and the shoulder belt fits across their collar bone.

Frontal air bag use tips

• Try to sit at least 10 inches away from the steering and dashboard in vehicles equipped with air bags.
• Children under the age of 13 should always ride in the back seat. Frontal air bags are especially dangerous for kids, and you should NEVER put a child safety seat in a front seat that is equipped with air bags.
• Adjust tilting steering wheels so that they aim towards your chest – not your head.

Looking for help from a lawyer after a serious Virginia motor vehicle crash? Please call our Norfolk based office to discuss your case confidentially for no cost or obligation with one of our experienced personal injury attorneys.

Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.

112 College Place

Norfolk, VA 23510

Toll Free: (800) 690-0235

Phone: (757) 622-7740

Fax: (757) 533-9223

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