📖 How to survive an accident? Tips of a traumatologist.
No matter how much you comply with the Rules, no one is safe from neighbors on the road - someone can go into the oncoming lane, drive into the red one, fail to manage, in the end. That is why you need to know how to minimize the chance of serious injuries.
▫ Who is more likely to suffer in traffic accidents?
Statistics say that, contrary to popular belief, pedestrians are more likely to die in road accidents (40%), in second place are drivers of vehicles (33%), in third are passengers (27%). And for passengers, there is also a difference where to sit. No wonder there is an expression: "Place of a suicide bomber" - next to the driver. The reason, apparently, is that before the collision, the driver subconsciously removes himself from the blow, and the blow falls ... correctly, in the front passenger. It is safest to ride in the back seat, especially behind the driver. Personally, I always sit in the back seat in a taxi, which is what I really strain taxi drivers. But what can you do - health is more expensive.
▫ About seat belts.
Without the use of belts, death is possible at a speed of 20 km / h, with belts this threshold rises to 95 km / h. There is a common misconception that belts are dangerous because with an accident, you can break the collarbone. Nonsense. Over the past 15 years I have not heard of a single case. The only thing that can happen is a rupture of the clavicular-acromial ligament. But this is not scary: an incomplete gap heals in 3 weeks, with a complete one, a simple outpatient operation is threatened. Most people think that you can replace seat belts with your hands on the dashboard and your feet on the floor. How mistaken they are! This method is only suitable if the collision occurs at a speed of 10-20 km / h. Even with arms and legs, a person weighing 75 kg can withstand the force of only 300-400 kgf. And in a collision at a speed of 50 km / h, his body presses on a belt with a force of 3 tons. Are you a giant ant? Can you lift 40 times the weight of your body? Not? Then fasten your seat belt!
Those people who rest their hands and feet break them, and then they still damage their heads. Therefore, I advise: before the collision, take the correct position - lean back as much as possible and press yourself against the back of the seat, do not rest your feet on the floor. Do not rest your hands on anything, hands are needed in order to protect the head. Relax and pretend to be a bag of sawdust. This is exactly what drunk do, and that is why they often survive in traffic accidents.
Now there is a dangerous trend: in order to reduce the cost of “poor equipment” cars do not put rear head restraints. But the head restraints are not needed in order to lay your head on them and relax during movement. Headrests are needed so that when you run over from behind you do not break your neck. Compression fracture of the cervical vertebrae - the injury is very unpleasant. In the future, you can turn into a "talking head." Therefore, if you come across such a car, the first thing you need to run and buy head restraints, since they are inexpensive.
▫ About airbags.
You can stick as many airbags on the car as you like - this is not a panacea. Pillows are effective only with seat belts. Safety belts hold and guide the driver and passengers so that they begin to move no earlier than 30 ms after a collision and do not get past the pillows. Therefore, a pillow will not help unfastened people. They either will not fall into it, or fall not into a soft deflating pillow, but into a tightly inflated pillow. The feeling is not pleasant: it is comparable to the blow of a heavy boxer. And even in this case, the main thing is a competent laying between the steering wheel and the seat - the driver. In a head-on collision at a speed of 150 km / h, even 30 airbags will not help. Therefore, in recent years, a rare type of traumatic brain injury has been encountered more often in the past: diffuse axonal damage to the brain. There are no scratches on the body, but the brain is dead.
And in general, you should sit sober, in a healthy state, rested and calm. The behavior on the road, the quality of decision-making and the speed of reaction depend on this.
