Car accidents occur so frequently that many Columbis residents think they are unavoidable. More than 30,000 people lose their lives each year as a result of motor vehicle accidents. But according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the lives of 75,000 people were saved between 2004 and 2008 by wearing seat belts. While seat belts do help make driving safer, they do not prevent serious injury at the hands of another driver. This was highlighted recently after a car flipped over and crushed an oncoming vehicle in Ohio, seriously injuring the woman driving.

The accident occurred when a local woman was driving in the southbound lane of North River Road. A second vehicle drove into the back of a tractor-trailer on the opposite side of the road. The vehicle flipped over and flew towards the southbound lane, where it landed on top of the woman’s vehicle. The driver of the tractor trailer was unharmed, but the woman driving the crushed car was not so lucky. The accident left her injured but alive. Ohio fire crews were called to free the woman from her vehicle and an ambulance rushed her to hospital for treatment.

Car accidents are all too common and often have serious consequences. In this accident, this woman was the real victim and is stuck paying the price for the reckless driving of others. Wearing a seat belt significantly lowers the chance of serious injury in a car accident. It is likely that the woman’s life was saved by doing so, but injuries do still occur even after following the law and ‘buckling up’. When people survive serious accidents like these, a personal injury lawyer can help them recover medical costs and seek compensation.

Source: Zanesville Times Recorder, “Rollover crash hospitalizes two women,” Holly Richards, 03 June 2011.