Sad to say also it did happen here in ND where a person that was wearing a seat belt was killed. But that is unusual. Seat belts required here in this state but not enforced like CA. There if you are stopped by Calif Highway Patrol, big ticket.

It's Ticket or Click It in Ohio. That is a very sad story. You would think that especially in bad weather you would buckle up. And a child in the car? That makes it even worse.

Seat belts save lives. It's just that simple.

I started wear a seat belt when our son in law was in a roll over. He hit the ground so hard he stopped breathing. He was lucky, the guy with him knew CPR and save his life.

Some members of my extended family refuse to wear a seat belt. It makes me sad that they won't take such a simple precaution.

I told my mother to get out of my car because I wasn't going to drive anywhere if she wouldn't use the seat belt. She buckled up and we never had that conversation again.

I wear a seat belt. So does my DH.

He went to school with a girl who died wearing one.

She was out with friends, riding in the back seat. She was wearing the kind that go across your lap. Another driver going the other direction hit their car. The impact of the crash threw her forward so violently that the belt cut into her waist and she sustained internal injuries. Sadly died. Probably why they have the shoulder straps now.

That was a good move, Kris. My husband explained to our kids that an unbelted passenger could become a missile in case of an accident, very dangerous to those around him. They've always been good about making seat belts a rule in their cars.

Years ago my daughters were supposed to attend a special dinner of some sort, and they were to be driven there by a friend's mother. My girls were about 8 and 10 at the time. When I transferred them to the mother's car I found she had no seat belts for them. She suggested we buckle them in with two other girls. No way.

I ended up driving them myself, and waiting while they went to the dinner. Of course my daughters were embarrassed, and I was pretty irritated myself. It was clear that the other mother was irritated, too, and thought I was a bit of a nut to insist on seat belts.

But months later, she wrote me a letter. Her husband, she said, came home very late one night from a business trip. He fell asleep at the wheel, and drove into a tree. His seat belt saved his life. She apologized to me for the incident with the girls' seat belts, and said she now understood how necessary they are.

This is a very sad and tragic story.

Why is there anyone, anywhere, who doesn't always wear a seat belt? There's no need to know someone or have a personal experience to reinforce the need to wear seat belts. Is this like what someone commented on in the past few weeks, that there's no reason to ever be surprised about stupid things some people do?

when the seat belt laws went into effect we started wearing them, and instilled the habit to our kids and now grands, and car seats for the younger ones...it takes less than a minute, to save YOUR life...mi also has a strong enforcement....
condolences to your friends for the tragic loss....

It's been the law here since the 70s that made seat belts compulsory. When I drove as a nanny in the States even though it was not compulsory to wear seat belts I always wore mine and insisted my passengers did as well. One of my rules was, "If you don't wear the seat belt the car does not start. If you take it off while I am driving I will stop and wait until either you do it up or get out of the car and walk."

I used to car pool with some friends to go to singing practice. At the time my daughter who sat in the back seat was small and the shoulder belt was the kind you have adjust by hand (not on an automatic roller). So usually when I picked up my friends on my turn to drive the belt had to be adjusted to fit a larger passenger when/if we had one, which took a couple of minutes.

The first time this happened, the friend who sat in that seat just held the belt across her body, without doing it up or adjusting it. I looked at her and said, that's OK, we can wait until you adjust the belt. Her reply was, Oh, I'll hold it like this and it will look like I'm wearing it. I said, Joan, the object of the exercise is to save your life, not to fool the cops. We'll wait. She looked a little surprised, then smiled and started to adjust the belt, saying, You know, I never thought of it like that.

My DH is a former traffic cop of 30 years' experience who sadly has seen all too many dead people who didn't wear their belts, who might be around today if they had.

What a tragic story. As others have said, I just don't understand why there are those who don't wear those life saving seat belts.

Recently near my home, a mother and her teen son were both thrown from the car when the driver lost control on a curve. Speed was a factor. Of course, neither was wearing a seat belt and both died. Family and friends were devastated and talked about what a wonderful, loving mother she was. Too bad she didn't care enough to use a seat belt and set a good example of safety to her son.

I think the reason that some people don't wear a seat belt is because they grew up before they were mandatory and when they began to make them mandatory they heard these stories about old so and so that would have died had they had on that seat belt. Well it may be true that in a one in a million case but that's just stupid thinking! Anyway that is the argument that I have actually heard from a couple people that didn't want to wear their seat belts. You can imagine my reply to that! HAHA! What happens if you don't wear them is you are ejected from the car, you normally fly into(or through) the windshield and the human body cannot sustain such an impact. I mean a person may be "hard headed" but not that hard! GAH!

How sad. In the blink of an eye your life changes forever. It is a law in PA is it not? I thought it was. I'm thinking that maybe, and I could have this completely wrong, in PA they can't stop you JUST for a seat belt violation, but they can tack on the fine for no seat belt if you're stopped for anything else?

I've heard some people say they won't wear them because they don't like the government AGAIN telling them what they can and can't do. Nose. Spite. Face. sigh.....

I always wear my belt. I was with DH one day, he was on the way to work, I was in passenger seat. We had a minor accident at an intersection, he braked HARD and even though I was belted, my hands instinctively reached out, They hit the dash so hard I broke both thumbs. That could have been my head! So I've worn my seat belt every ride since then.

Sad sad news, especially losing a 13 year old. Such a loss of a promising life. Way too young!!!

I was quite pleased the first time I picked up all the kids for my carpool this year (first time I've ever done it), and everyone buckled immediately. When kids don't have to be told, that's a good thing. I know we all lived through no seat belts, lap belts only, automatic seat belts, and even no car seats, but I don't see any reason not to be safe these days. Just because we survived doesn't mean we weren't lucky!

When my kids were growing up, the rule was that the car didn't move until everyone was buckled in. Alisande, I applaud you for what you did when the woman driving your kids didn't have seat belts for them. I like to think I would have done the same thing.

It has been proven over and over that you are safer with a seat belt buckled than without. It takes so little effort to buckle up; I don't understand why anyone wouldn't do it.

I don't know anyone who doesn't wear a seat belt. It's an automatic response. Sadly, working in an ER, I see that too many people still don't use them.

"I was in passenger seat. We had a minor accident at an intersection, he braked HARD and even though I was belted, my hands instinctively reached out, They hit the dash so hard I broke both thumbs. That could have been my head! So I've worn my seat belt every ride since then."

One night more than 30 years ago I was being given a ride to my car, which was parked on the upper level of a parking garage. It was late, it was dark out, and I didn't feel safe going up there alone, so one of the guys in the building where we worked offered to give me a ride. Because we were going to be within the parking structure and not out on the street, and because the ride would only take a few minutes, I didn't put the seat belt on.

Lee normally drove a Porsche, but it was in the shop, so he had his "backup" car -- a 1968 (or was it a 1969?) Cadillac Brougham. HUGE difference in the size and maneuverability of those two cars! Anyway, at one point we had to make a U-turn to go up a long ramp to the next level, and as he was coming out of the turn Lee "gunned it" to go up the ramp. Problem was, he was used to making a nice tight little turn in the Porsche, and when he accelerated, he wasn't aimed straight. I knew we were going to scrape the wall and, like Jannie, I made an instinctive move -- my purse was on my lap so I held onto it with my right hand, and I put my left hand out against the dash to brace myself.

Well, we didn't just "scrape" that concrete wall -- we slammed into it. Because of the way Lee had made the turn, we ran into the wall with the impact being on the right front (passenger side) of the car. Now, if you know anything at all about a '68 or '69 Cadillac Brougham, you'll know it is a huge, heavy, solid metal car. And the impact completely crumpled/crushed the right front fender. The right front tire wouldn't turn, and the passenger door wouldn't open. I had to crawl out through the driver's door.

Because I hadn't been wearing a seat belt, there was nothing to hold me back when we hit the wall. I was thrown forward and hit my head on the frame of the windshield. Because my left arm was braced against the dash, my arm/shoulder were crunched into my neck.

Long story short -- I received permanent injuries as a result. I had to have surgery to remove a rib because I was losing circulation to my left arm. I have vicious headaches, because the impact of my skull against the windshield frame dislocated part of my skull. I also now have bulging discs in my neck and back.

Anyway, ever since then, I've worn my seat belt EVERY time I've gotten in a car -- even when all I'm doing is backing the car out of the garage onto the driveway to wash it.

I actually paid to have seatbelts installed in my car years ago before they were mandatory. All it took was driving by an accident scene where a young woman had been "thrown clear" from her car. They were pulling the sheet over her as I drove by.

And for those who think the odds are in their favor, the lifetime risk of dying in a car accident is 1 in 84; the risk of simply being seriously injured is even higher. About 85 % of people wear their seatbelts; over 50% of people killed were not wearing one.

While we are on the subject of wise use of seat belts while driving, there is another issue of safety in a moving vehicle. That would be the 'missils' that are left loose in many vehicles.

A flying toy, tissue box, umbrella, etc, etc, can be lethal in a crash. My handicapped scooter and walker are very securely strapped down, to the point that I am unable to release them without someone's help. So I can't take myself anywhere which upsets me at times. Dh insists that the van doesn't move unless those 'missils' and all others are secured.

That's a great point gazania! I have an SUV and I have all kinds of stuff in the back! YIKES! I also carry a dog with me that I have her strapped in with her harness but I do need to buy a dog seat belt for her!

I started wearing a seat belt before the law was passed because my car insurance company offered extra benefits or something (can't remember how it was worded now) if you were in an accident and wearing your seat belt.