So, let's start the year off right...tomorrow...
V5.1 - Happy New Year
Happy New Year
So now it’s Two Thousand-Fourteen, AD. Who would have figured? Not me.
Thinking about what to start the year off with and I think last year’s
article was a mighty important one. We had just lost another high-schooler in a
car accident, wherein she was thrown from the car and I used the incident to
remind everyone to buckle up.
Once upon a time, I did not wear a seat belt – mostly because the car I drove
did not have them, but later on I got a new car that did. At the time I was
racing my dirt car at Riverside Speedway in West Memphis, AR and of course, one
wears a 5-point safety harness (seat/shoulder belts, yes) when you’re racing.
So, one rainy morning on my way to work (seatbeltless mind you) I was
driving down the interstate and all of a sudden, I felt my car start
hydroplaning. That’s when the tires begin to ride on top of the water and no
longer have contact with the roadway – you have zero car control. Well, my car
started sliding sideways – thank God there was no one in the lane next to me –
and all I could do was what you should do when this happens, lift off the
accelerator and allow the car to slow down until it makes contact with the road
surface and you regain control. Once I was back in control, I slowed down and
drove on to work…as I did, all I could think was ‘What if I had hit the guard
rail? I’d have been thrown to the other side of the car and no way could I have
regained control. At that moment, I buckled my seatbelt and I have been using
them ever since. I have even retro-fit them into my classic cars – I will not
drive without them.
People - WEAR your seat belt. Life is too short and too precious to risk
it all, just because you don’t want to buckle up. Still don’t think they are
needed? Why do think that race car drivers wear them? Because they want to
survive the accident. Don’t you?
Till next time….
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