It was just a regular night for Chloe Williams, who was heading back from her friend’s house along the Croatan Highway in Kill Devil Hills. Suddenly, an otherwise routine drive home nearly ended in tragedy when William’s Mazda 3 was struck by another driver as she crossed an intersection.
Though the car was totaled, Williams had made the smart decision to buckle her seatbelt – a habit that ultimately saved her life and helped her escape serious injury.
“Wearing a seatbelt can definitely save your life and prevent injury when worn properly — I slammed my knee into the dashboard. I just walked away with a bruise on my knee, but my injuries could have been a lot worse if I hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt at all,” Williams said.
William’s decision has earned her the May “Saved by the Belt” award from the NC Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
“William’s smart thinking is a great example of a young person who, with a simple habit, ultimately saved their own life. People in their 20s, like Chloe, make up a disproportionate number of fatalities and serious injuries in unbuckled crashes. No one is invincible when it comes to a car crash – and in fact, you’re half as likely to be fatally injured in a crash if you buckle up,” said Mark Ezzell, director of the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
The “Saved by the Belt” initiative raises awareness about the importance of everyone buckling up by highlighting people who avoided serious injury or death in a motor vehicle crash by wearing their seatbelt.
Share your “Saved by the Belt” stories to raise awareness, and follow us @NCGHSP on Facebook and @NC_GHSP on Twitter and Instagram. For more information, visit www.ncghsp.org.