Buckle Up!

I recently became aware of an acquaintance of mine, from high school, who passed away in a car crash.  She was traveling on some icy roads from Utah to California and hit an ice patch.  Neither she, nor her brother was wearing their seat belts and the car turned several times.  She did end up losing her life; while her brother lived with pretty severe injuries, and fortunately injuries that will eventually heal.  She was an amazing girl and it broke my heart to know that she lost her life and at such a young age of 28.  After her passing I became a lot more aware and careful while driving.  I also did some reading about California’s seat-belt laws and thought I would share some helpful information.

I came across an article written on the Driving University website about the California seat-belt law.  I am sure all Californian’s are quite aware that it is a law that we must wear a seat belt, however, according to the article “The United States seat belt usage rate is only about 75%,” and this may be due to some common misconceptions.  “For example, some people believe that wearing a seat belt can cause them to be trapped in a vehicle that's on fire or sinking underwater. While that's definitely a terrifying idea, most crashes don't involve these hazards. However, not wearing your seatbelt greatly increases your likelihood of being thrown from the vehicle-and according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 75% of passengers who are thrown from a vehicle during a crash die.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a seat belt will reduce your chances of dying in a crash by 45%.”

The article goes on to further explain how seat belts really do save our lives.  “Whenever your vehicle hits something, your body has 3 different types of force to contend with: the force of the impact between your car and whatever you just hit, the force of your body smacking against the inside of your car, and the force of your internal organs hitting your skeleton.  A seat belt spreads these forces out over the strongest parts of your body: your chest, your pelvis and your torso, keeping you from sustaining more serious injuries.”

I know many of us from various political parties may have our different arguments and opinions as to what should be our driving and car laws and what should not.  Yet, I believe that most of us, after reading the facts, would agree that wearing a seat belt would increase our chances of living in a car crash.  I am sure that most of us are not only concerned about staying alive, many of us also want to save more money.

In a time where economical problems seem to be never ending, most of us are looking for ways to save.  Good California Car Insurance can be hard to find and especially affordable California Auto Insurance.  The more tickets we have, the harder it is to find a low California Auto quote.  Not only do we have to pay for the ticket itself, we also have to pay for increased premiums.   According to the California Traffic Office of Safety, “the cost of an adult seat belt violation in California costs $142, and up to $445 for not properly restraining a child under 16.  If the parent is not in the car, the driver gets the ticket.”  For the most part since a seat belt violation is considered a non-moving violation in California and usually does not go on your DMV record, your CA Car Insurance in many cases will not be affected.  However, it is possible, especially if you have other violations, your CA Auto Insurance may raise your rate.  In addition, if you are seeking a new quote your rate will be more reasonable if you have fewer violations.  Needless to say, I strongly believe that we should all buckle up J