MUSCAT: BMW Group in Middle East is performing its positive role regarding the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) by urging drivers and their passengers to buckle up.
This year on November 16 the occasion will remember the millions killed and injured on world’s roads as well as their families and many others also affected. There will also be a special reflection on the tremendous burden and cost of this global problem.
‘BMW Group Middle East launched its ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive’ road safety campaign in 2010 as part of its commitment to raise awareness of the importance of wearing seatbelts. WDR provides us with a great opportunity to reinforce this messaging in line with such a credible global awareness day’ said Leanne Blanckenberg corporate communications manager of BMW Group Middle East. The premium automotive manufacturer’s ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive’ road safety campaign puts the following questions to drivers and urges them to buckle up:
Do you buckle up as soon as you get in the car?
Do you insist that your passengers wear a seat belt?
Do your children have the right car seat safety restraints for their weight and age?
If you have answered no or even just once then you need to read the following five reasons why you should to buckle up
Seatbelts save lives and reduce injuries
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of a fatality among front seat passengers by 40-50 per cent and among rear seat car occupants by 25-75 per cent.
It’s the law
Wearing a seatbelt while driving or as a passenger is the law and any person found not to be buckled up will face a considerable fine. Similarly if a child is over 10 years old they must wear a seatbelt while children less than 10 years old must be restrained using the correct type of child seat.
According to the laws of physics if a vehicle is travelling at 120kmph its contents and passengers are also moving at 120kmph. A sudden stop or head-on collision at 120kmph can mean the difference of life or death to the passengers wearing seatbelts. In a road traffic accident passengers who are not buckled up will fly toward the point of impact colliding with anything in their path such as dashboards windshield or steering wheels with several pounds of moving force. Seatbelts are designed to stop the uncontrolled movement of people within a vehicle and therefore one of the most important tools to prevent serious injury or death in a road traffic accident.
Your driving experience and confidence levels will not account for the often unpredictable actions of other drivers. Even the most skilled drivers cannot be 100 percent certain of the ability to prevent an accident when another driver is at fault. It is therefore essential that every driver and passenger wears a seatbelt any time they are in a moving vehicle.
Children are not small adults “they need specialised protection in a moving vehicle. So they must be protected from the force of an accident. Babies’ skulls are extremely flexible and even a small impact can result in significant deformation of the head and brain. Also an infant’s rib cage is still elastic and any impact to the chest can damage the heart lungs and other internal organs. At this age the pelvis is unstable and cannot withstand the forces from the use of regular seat-belts featured in your car.