"Your ace is a belt"

The number of people who die on Polish roads every year is appalling. If we compare what is happening in Poland with the situation in the European Union, we can see that the risk of death and serious injury as a result of traffic accidents and collisions in our country is four times higher.

It is worth asking yourself, what does this mean? Most often, drivers answer that this is all due to the poor condition of the roads, the excessive number of road signs and the rush of drivers.

However, is there anything else to look out for? Failure to comply with the rules and principles, carelessness and excessive faith in one's capabilities and vehicle equipment.

Don't count on a pillow

Our belief that, for example, the airbag does everything, and therefore the seat belt is not needed, can lead to tragedy. An airbag will reduce the risk of serious injury or even death by 50%, but only if the driver or passenger in the car was wearing their seat belts at the time of the collision.

What about the people in the back seat? Often these people feel liberated from this responsibility. Yet unfastened seat belts pose a deadly threat to the driver and front seat passengers.

At this point it is worth taking an example. The father was walking with his son to the hypermarket. “Daddy,” the child asked. Why aren't you wearing your seat belts? The father replied, “We are only walking a few hundred meters. Suddenly, someone ran into the road. Hard braking, skidding and the car crashed into a roadside tree.

We drove only 50 km/h. The driver was thrown out of the car seat in a split second, and with a force of more than a ton, his body hit the windshield of the car and fell out. His chances of survival? Close to zero.

Chance of survival

Is wearing seat belts an exceptional difficulty, or is it just a perversion stemming from the claim that seat belts aren't XNUMX% sure anyway? True, no, but the chances increase.

Therefore, several campaigns have been carried out to promote the fastening of seat belts. Today, together with Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeniowe Link4 SA and the Road Safety Center in Łódź, we propose to consolidate the principle “Your AS is PAS”. This is not only a slogan associated with Road Safety Week, which runs from 23 to 29 April 2007, but also a chance to survive.

The law says

The obligation to wear seat belts was introduced in Poland in 1983 and only applied to front seats and roads outside built-up areas. In 1991, this obligation was also extended to the rear seats and all roads. In 1999, it became mandatory to use child seats for transporting children under 12 years of age no taller than 150 cm.

How much is it

– Failure to use seat belts while driving – a fine of PLN 100 – 2 points;

– Driving a vehicle carrying passengers not wearing seat belts – PLN 100 – 1 point;

– Carrying a child in a car:

1) except for a protective seat or other device for transporting children - PLN 150 - 3 points;

2) in the rear safety seat in the front seat of a vehicle equipped with a passenger airbag – PLN 150 – 3 points.