Are Seat Belts Preventing Injuries

Originally posted on https://drricardolalama.com/are-seatbelts-preventing-injuries/

Are Seatbelts Preventing Injuries

This might appear to be a stupid question but have you ever considered if the standard safety seatbelts your vehicles are equipped with actually prevent or cause spinal and neck injury in the event of an auto accident? The results of recent studies might surprise you. Read on to find out if seat belts preventing injuries applies to your vehicle, and how to deal with this problem should your standard seat belts are not be up to snuff.

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The Medical College of Wisconsin has reached the following conclusion after looking into this issue: Their study ran from 1996 to 2011. The data on seatbelts preventing injuries they researched was provided by the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network. They studied the recorded records of over 4500 vehicle accident victims. These were cases where the injuries sustained fell in the severe to moderate range.

This group concentrated on a comparison of the data provided to see how two point seat belts compared to three point seatbelts relating to the level of spinal, neurological, and fatalities sustained in the moderate to severe auto accidents.

Their findings prove quite conclusively that first: the two point restraining seat belts raked higher in preventing flexion-distraction injury compared to the three point seatbelt systems. On the other hand, the three point systems came in at an amazing three times higher level for causing fractures to the spine than the two point restraining seatbelts. Naturally, the use of either type of seatbelt system was far safer than not wearing a seatbelt when auto accidents are in the moderate to severe category.

These doctors conducting this study also concluded that while wearing no seatbelt resulted in the most fatalities, wearing either the two or three point restraining systems actually do increase the chances those in the vehicle will suffer from lower spinal and lumbar injury. And these types of injuries generally grow worse as time goes on after the auto accident. They concluded this fact from data clearly proving this is due to additional injuries to the abdomen and pelvic areas of the body.

Age also played a part in the level of trauma sustained by the accident victims. Older drivers and passengers are far more likely to suffer serious spinal injury due to less flexibility and the brittleness of their bones. This is also true if drivers and passengers are overweight. Younger adults and children rank much lower on the injury sustained rankings.

So what are we to conclude about seat belts preventing injuries? Wearing them is better than not doing so, try and lose weight if you are overweight, and immediately visit Dr. Lalama, a qualified Passaic County auto accident chiropractor for diagnosis and treatment of any neck, shoulder, or spinal injuries suffered in an auto accident.

Have you suffered any of these injuries due to an auto accident? Please share this article with others on Facebook and Twitter.