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Don't be stupid; wear your seat belt

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kelly Ogden
  • 1st SOW Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  Thousands of people die in vehicular accidents each year.

Personnel on military installations are no exception, prompting the Department of Defense to enact a 100 percent seatbelt wear policy on all military installations, resulting in fewer deaths and limited bodily injury from car crashes.

"Habits surely have changed," said Col. Michael Smietana, 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group commander. "A few years ago, we would have been lucky to see 70-80 percent of our folks wearing seat belts. During this last check at the gate, we were 99.8 percent compliant, which is noteworthy."

During a morning vehicle check on Hurlburt Field by the 1st Special Operations Security Forces Squadron, only two motorists out of 1,200 were caught not wearing a seatbelt.

Seatbelts are the best possible protection in a car crash. They are designed so that the forces in a crash are absorbed by the stronger areas of your body. In addition, they keep you in place so you are less likely to strike the car interior or other vehicle passengers, or to fly through the windshield.

"Wearing seat belts is not only the safe, responsible thing to do, it's the law," Colonel Smietana said. "With traffic so unpredictable around here, you just never know when wearing your seat belt will save your life."