When you sit in your hire car do ever think about the seatbelts? In fact, when you sit in your own car at home do you ever think about the seat belts and what’s the best way to use them?
A poll by the British Osteopathic Association says that up to 13% of car drivers sit incorrectly for their seatbelt to be fully effective if the car is involved in a head on collision.
It seems that to be effective a seat belt should strap over the pelvis, actually over the pelvic bones and not the stomach. Having it over the stomach could cause internal injuries, the belt also needs to be in contact with the shoulder or serious neck injury could occur.
Some motorists sit too far back which puts them in danger of sub-marining under the seat belt in a collision.
The poll also showed that many drivers in the UK do not sit positioned close enough to the head rest, which of course increases the possibility of sustaining a serios whiplash injury.
The poll also shows that only 6% regularly adjust the head restraint and 51% never do.
The BOA poll was published to at the same time as the start of Back Care Awareness week and shows that 14% of those polled sit to close to the steering wheel putting them at serious risk of getting a bad chest injury from a deployed airbag in an accident.
Danny Williams a BOA council member was quoted: “While most of us are aware that seatbelts save lives, it’s fair to say that the majority of us don’t know that the way we sit in a vehicle also plays a huge part in our safety and wellbeing.
“The position of the head restraint, how far or close we sit to the steering wheel and how long we spend sitting at the wheel without having a break can cause long-lasting neck and back injuries.”
It would seem then that to be safe you need to ensure you adjust your seatbelt correctly, ensuring that it is in contact with your should, with the head rest close to your head and you not sitting too far back, or too close to the steering wheel.
This is something you need to remember when you get into your hire car, it’s too easy to jump in and drive away without making sure your sitting position and seatbelt are comfortable and safe.