By Kaaleen J.
For as long as I can remember my grandfather has rarely warn a seatbelt. Whether it was a long road trip to Niagara Falls, a short drive over to the convenience store to buy a lottery ticket he would almost never wear it.
When I was young I learned about what could happen if you didn’t wear your seatbelt: getting thrown around like a rag doll, injuring fellow passengers, or worst of all being ejected from the vehicle and sliding on the pavement. As soon as I learned all the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt I went to my grandpa and I told him he has to wear it or he could get hurt.
“No no I am a safe driver I don’t need a seatbelt.” He would say. Even after it was the law to wear a seatbelt he still didn’t want to hear about it.
“I’ve been driving so long I know what I am doing!”
So my grandpa continued not to wear his seatbelt. Not listening, being stubborn… until he saw a police officer ahead then and only then would he quickly pull the seatbelt over one shoulder to make it look like he had been wearing it for the whole ride. I would tell him that doing that is just as dangerous and he could get seriously hurt. Again and again he would brush me off and not listen to me and continue not to wear his seatbelt.
Fortunately he never got into a car crash but what if he had and what if he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt! My heart skips a beat just thinking about it. Our family would have been devastated. What if the head of our household was stolen from us by something that could have easily been avoided? It’s the easiest thing to do. Knowing what I know now, I would make him where a seat belt when he rode with me or refuse to ride with him unless he buckled up. I think he would BUCKLE UP!
