Always wear a seatbelt

Well, duh.

Did we really need this study?

As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week, it turns out that car passengers who don’t wear seat belts are putting other passengers at risk. Unseatbelted passengers become dangerous projectiles when a car collides with something or comes to a sudden stop.

Now, is it just me, or is the result of this study glaringly obvious? Did they really go into it wondering what in the world the outcome would be?

The amazing thing is that someone funded this study. And amazing thing #2 is that the “prestigious” Journal of the American Medical Association actually thought it was necessary to print it.

The study concludes: “Persons who wish to reduce their risk of death in a crash should wear their own restraint and should ask others in the same car to use their restraints.”

Let me get this straight: Car passengers should wear seatbelts for safety? Got it.

That might have been innovative news in 1944, but 60 years later you have to wonder: What were they thinking?

Buckle up!

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:
“Car Occupant Death According to the Restraint Use of Other Occupants” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 291, No. 3, 1/21/04, jama.ama-assn.org