Safety Tips …

Lesson Plan for Teaching Youth About Belt Use

This lesson is formatted to be a discussion between a leader and a class of young people. It consists of a series of questions for the leader to ask kids and important information for the leader to convey to the class. Discussion leaders should let the kids know that at the end of the discussion, there will be a small quiz – and whoever gets the most questions correct gets a Randy Moss poster.

To order posters, please call the Communication's Office at 651/296-6653. 

Question 1 –

How many of you regularly wear your seat belt? What are some of the reasons that people don’t wear their belts?

Here are some responses to often heard reasons:

Seat belts are too uncomfortable-

Maybe. Of course, in a car crash – without your safety belt – you would smash into the steering column, slam into the dashboard, or crash the windshield. This too can be very uncomfortable.

Only geeks wear safety belts –

Really? Without safety belts – geeks, punks, slackers and honor students would all fly through the windshield at the same rate. In fact, even being really cool won’t keep you in your seat without your safety belt.

I’ll never have a crash. I am a good driver—

Unfortunately, good drivers can be hit by bad or drunk drivers. Few people intend to have crashes.

Safety belts restrict my freedom of movement –

Without your safety belt you have all the freedom in the world – to crash into your windshield, to slam into another person, or to be thrown from your car and slide along the pavement. Freedom is great.

I am often in a hurry – and it takes too long to buckle the seat belt –

On average – it takes 2.5 seconds to buckle up. You can suffer a lifetime for not taking all that "extra time" to buckle up.

Question 2—

What do you think injures and kills the most young people like yourself? Do you think it is disease, guns, riding roller-coasters? What would you guess?

·         Actually -- riding in a motor vehicle is the most dangerous thing most of us will ever do

·         Traffic crashes are the leading cause of injury and death for kids and young adults.

·         Seat belts are the most effective safety devices in vehicles.

·         Wearing a safety belt reduces your risk of injury in a car crash by 50% and by 65% in a pickup truck.

·         Without wearing a seat belt, a 35 m.p.h. crash is the equivalent of falling from a third-story window.

·         Most serious crashes happen close to home.

·         More than one-half of crashes resulting in injury occur at speeds BELOW 40 mph.

Question 3 –

Have you ever been in a car – and it suddenly stopped or turned – and you felt your body continue to move forward?

• When a car is in a crash – and you’re not wearing your safety belt – the car suddenly stops but your body continues to move forward.

• Some people think that they are strong enough to brace themselves with their arms in the event of a crash. Actually – no one, not even Hulk Hogan (or some other strong guy), could hold out their arms to stop themselves from hitting the dashboard or going through a window.

• You see – the faster you are moving, the harder you will hit an object like a dashboard or windshield.

• To calculate how hard you would hit an object – you need to multiple your weight times how fast you are moving.

• For instance – if you weighed 100 pounds and you are going 30 m.p.h. – and your car suddenly came to a complete stop – you would hit the dashboard with 3,000 pounds of force.
• So ask yourself – could you catch a ball that weighed 3,000 pounds?

• Here is another example – Think about a one-pound tissue box sitting in the rear window. How much would it feel like if it hit you in the event of a 45 m.p.h. crash?      Answer: It would hit you in the back of the head like a 45 pound brick!!!

For OLDER KIDS – add this section:

Another aspect to remember – is that there are three collisions going on at the same time when you are involved in a vehicle crash:

1.       The Vehicle’s Collision

This is what happens at the point of impact, when the vehicle hits something. The result of this collision can be seen by the visible signs of impact on the vehicle itself.

 2.   The Human Collision:

At the moment of impact, if you are UNBELTED, you are still moving at the same speed that the car was moving. Whatever is in front of you will stop you from moving, whether that is a steering wheel, a windshield or a seat in front of you. The human collision is the one that causes injury.

 3.   The Human Body’s Internal Collision

Even after you come to a complete stop, your internal organs are still moving forward. Suddenly, these organs hit other organs. This third collision – the internal collision—causes considerable, and potentially fatal injury. For instance, your heart is suspended in your chest by arteries and veins – an impact at high speeds can cause the heart muscle to rip away from some of the arteries holding it in place.

When a collision does happen, you have the best chance of reducing or avoiding injury if everyone is buckled up.

Question 4 –

Should people have the freedom to choose whether or not to use safety belts?

·         Safety belts do more than reduce the severity of injuries.

·         They assist the driver in maintaining control of the car in emergency situation – the use of belts is a responsibility to other drivers.

·         Also – it is the responsibility of the driver to make sure other passengers are buckled up. Many injuries in crashes are caused by unbelted passengers colliding with other people in the car.

·         Think as well of others who will suffer if you are killed or hurt in a crash.

·         One last point – our insurance rates are based in large part on the medical costs to repair those injured in crashes! We all pay for crashes through increased insurance rates and also in TAXES. The majority of the costs associated with crashes are paid for by the tax payer.

Question 5 --

Does Minnesota have any laws in regard to belt use or vehicle restraints?   

Are any of you familiar with what they are and how much it can cost?

• Minnesota has a mandatory seat belt law

Below is a brief summary of our laws as they pertain to belt use:

§         Children under 4 years old are required to be fastened in an approved child seat – if an officer sees an infant not secured in a child seat – they can pull you over.

§         Children 4 to 11 years of age must be buckled up while in a vehicle.

§         A driver and passengers riding in the front seat of a vehicle are required to use a seat belt--regardless of age.

§         Drivers with an instruction permit or a provisional license are required to secure all passengers under the age of 18 in seat belts.

·         It is considered "secondary law" because an officer can’t pull you over for not wearing your belt. They can give you a seat belt ticket if they pull you over for a "moving violation" such as speeding or rolling through a stop sign.

·         A seat belt ticket which can cost you between $50-$75 (including court fees).

Question 6 –

Now that we have established why you should wear a belt – what do you think are some of the right and wrong ways to wear a belt?

Safety belts are designed to distribute the force of a crash over the strongest areas of your body – the bones of your hips, chest and shoulders.

DO:

·         Wear the lap belt low and snug across your hips.

·         Keep the lap and shoulder straps snug.

·         Sit back in the upright position.

DON’T:

·         Let the belt cross the front of the neck or face.

·         Allow the belt to ride across the stomach area because it can result in serious injury.

·         Tuck the shoulder belt under your arm or behind your back; not only is it unsafe to do so—it is illegal.

Children DOs:

·         Kids under 13 should always ride in the back seat.

·         Infants under 12 months AND 20 pounds need to sit in a rear facing child seat.

·         As we just discussed – all children under four years are required to be in a child seat.

·         Kids generally between the ages of 4 and 9 should ride in a booster seat – because seat belts are designed for adults and they don’t fit young kids correctly.

IF in a school bus with lap belts only:

·         Only one student should be buckled in per lap belt.

·         Sit up straight with your back against the seat (if wearing a backpack, please remove it).

·         Keep the lap belt low, over your hip bones.

·         Tighten the belt so that it is snug across your lower hip bones.

Question 7 --

What do you all know about airbags?

Do you think you need to wear a seat belt if your car has an airbag?

·         Airbags are designed to work TOGETHER with your safety belt.

·         Because airbags deploy at speeds faster than the blink of an eye, this force can injure or kill those who are too close to it.

·         Safety belts keep you in position during pre-crash braking or maneuvering so that you do not end up too close to the air bag when it deploy.

·         In addition, drivers need to keep a minimum of ten inches between themselves and the steering wheel.

·         Front seat passengers should keep their seats back as far as they practically can.

·         Never place an infant in a rear-facing child seat in front of an airbag.

·         Always have children under 13 ride in the back seat -- because air bags have been blamed for 146 deaths - mainly of young, unrestrained children and some shorter adults.

Question 8 –

Lastly, can anyone think of a situation where it may be safer to NOT wear your seat belt?

• NO – there are NO situations where it would be better not to have your belt on. There is an "URBAN MYTH" that people say "they knew someone who would have lived or did live through a crash because they were not wearing their seat belt."

Here are some answers people may give and appropriate responses:

It is better to be tossed out of a car during a crash --

Nope – not at all. Front passengers are two to four times more likely to be killed if ejected.

If the car bursts into fire or is submerged in water – you won’t be able to escape--

Less than one-half of ONE PERCENT of injury-producing crashes involve fire or submersion in water. Besides that, if you are knocked unconscious or severely hurt in a crash because you weren’t wearing your belt – chances are much less that you would be able to get yourself out of the vehicle.

If a woman is pregnant with a child – the seat belt will hurt her baby inside.

Wearing a seat belt will not hurt an unborn child. The greatest risk to an unborn child is if the mother is injured during a car crash. By wearing a seat belt – the mother is lessening her chances of being severely hurt in a crash. She should wear the lap belt under her stomach, as low on the hips as possible and against the upper thighs.

If you have questions about seat belts or air bags, please contact Tina Folch, Office of Traffic Safety, at 651/296-3804 or email her at

tina.folch@state.mn.us.

Last Reviewed/Updated: December 2000

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