Buckle Up, Texas.

Texan Survives Rollover

2009-06-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

I survived a rollover in a 2000 Ford Explorer on Interstate 35 at Jarrell, TX, while cruising at 70mph.

My left rear tire blew causing the Explorer to go airborne. It landed on its front end deploying the air bag, which I thought had broken my jaw from such a fierce force. The car rolled and landed on the passenger side against the highway-dividing wall facing southbound in the northbound lane.

My seat seat belt was on so tight I had to cut it crawl out the driver side window. My wearing my seat belt prevented me from being thrown from the car.

The Texas seat belt law was created to save lives and it saved mine.

R. Aguilar
Belton, TX

Collision on Camera

2009-06-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Watch a wreck from inside the car. Video provided by DriveCam, Inc.

Life after a Crash

2009-06-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

Video provided by Texas Department of State Health Services.

Behind the Wheel

2009-06-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

See first-hand footage of a wreck from the driver’s point of view. DriveCam, Inc.

On the Flip Side

2009-06-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

I planned a weekend hiking trip with my friend Valentin last April. Little did I know that our adventure would not be on the trails, but on the road. We got a late start that Friday. Valentin had been driving a few hours when it began to drizzle. Our destination was within a few miles when somehow he lost control of the vehicle and began swerving back and forth. We took a sharp turn off the road and started bumping along the unknown landscape in the pitch black.

I realized we were airborne when I felt an odd weightless sensation. At this point, it seemed like we were moving in slow motion, gracefully even, but then the car suddenly flipped over and crashed into the earth. It felt as though a giant snatched the car out of the air and thrust it violently into the ground.

Being upside down in a car was quite a surreal experience. I was hanging there in my safety belt, generally unharmed. Valentin was buckled in next to me without a scratch. We crawled out of the car, dazed and bruised, but alive. I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I saw the scene in the daylight. I can honestly say that a safety belt saved my life.

Kenna, Austin, TX

In the Driver’s Seat

2009-06-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

See what it’s like behind the wheel of during a crash. Video provided by DriveCam, Inc.

Don't Ditch Your Safety Belt

2009-06-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

I was traveling on an access road in Denton when my sedan was hit by another car entering the access road from the passenger side. My car rolled over the driver’s side into a ditch, hit the other side of the ditch, and rolled back over, landing upright. There is no doubt in my mind that the seat belt DEFINITELY saved my life. I only had one scratch from the accident, but the car was completely totaled.

Sarah, Denton, TX

A Crash Course in Safety

2009-06-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

One night I was riding in the car with a couple of my friends. I had my cell phone out and was dialing a number when suddenly I felt a weightless sensation. I looked up and realized the car had veered off the road and was hurling through the air. We plowed over a road sign, and that’s when I dropped the phone, closed my eyes and waited for the impending crash.

The “crash” was actually multiple impacts and lasted about 15 seconds. The car ended up both rolling over and flipping end over end, shearing a few trees in the process. The car eventually landed upside down and slid about 50 feet across an open field. Half the car’s roof was torn off, so when the whole thing was over I was hanging by my safety belt with my head in the dirt.

All three of us were buckled up and walked away from the wreck with only minor cuts and bruises. I honestly believe if we weren’t buckled up, we wouldn’t have made it through that wreck alive.

Mike, Tyler, TX

Real Teens, Real Stories: He was already gone…

2009-06-02T08:04:00.001-07:00

Video provided by Texas Department of Health

Use Your Head. Buckle Up.

2009-05-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

See a head-on crash test with and without a safety belt. Video provided by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Basketball Forward Guards Her Life

2009-05-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

I was on my way to my internship this past March. I was driving on RM 2222 just east of Loop 360, and it was raining. My car hydroplaned on the slippery road and it went off the road, hit a rock wall, flipped twice and landed in a ditch.

There I was, hanging upside down by my safety belt. I always wear it, thank goodness. It was the most life-threatening thing that’s ever happened to me for sure. I had some sports injuries before that I thought were life threatening, but in that crash, I was in something much deeper than that.

Two drivers stopped to help, and they pulled me out of my car, which was totaled. I called Coach to let her know I was ok (I’m a forward on the UT women’s basketball team). I came out with a couple of scratches on my left hand, not the shooting hand. :) If I hadn’t had a seat belt on, I would have been in the back or through a window something like that.

Talk about putting things into perspective—it could have been so much worse.

I played the next day in the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma, and that first night I ended up posting my first career double double—I scored 15 points and had 11 rebounds. That was so awesome. Then TxDOT asked me to be a spokesperson for the Click It or Ticket campaign, and I was more than happy to speak out—maybe what I’ve been through can help remind somebody else to always buckle up.

Earnesia, senior in college

Real Teens, Real Stories: Emily

2009-05-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

Video provided by Texas Department of State Health Services.

Saved by the Belt

2009-05-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

I was driving me and my friend Trey to the Bell County Livestock Show early one morning this February when I heard a loud pop. Suddenly, my pickup spun end over end and landed upside down, broken in half. I was left hanging upside down by my safety belt. I reached for Trey, who was also hanging upside down, and then kicked out a window so we could crawl out of the truck. We were both scared, but we were alive. Looking back, I know we probably would have been thrown out of the truck and ended up dead if we hadn’t been buckled up.

After it happened, someone told me that pickup trucks are twice as likely as cars to roll over in a serious crash, and most people who aren’t buckled up when they’re in a rollover pickup truck crash end up dead. What happened to us could happen to anyone, so Trey and I have been trying to make sure everyone we know buckles up every time, no matter how far they’re going.

Our crashed truck has been part of some Click It or Ticket events, and thousands Texans have seen it. When people see how messed up the truck is, they can’t believe we walked away from that crash. We did get a little beat up, but that night we went to the fair and the next day we were able to show our animals. We even won Grand Reserve in our class, so that’s a pretty happy ending.

Ethan, junior in high school