Late last week a friend of a friend's son was in a seemingly minor car accident in northern Virginia. He was steering his pickup truck around a corner about a mile from his home. He was sober and not driving extremely fast (maybe 30-40 mph), but apparently took the turn a bit wide. It sounds like he was making a left turn, drifted wide, and the rear passenger wheel of his truck struck the curb. With it's high center of gravity and the angles involved, the truck flipped over.
Now, had he been wearing a seat belt, he likely would have been pretty well banged up -- maybe some bruises and cuts. Unfortunately, he was not buckled in. So as the truck flipped, he was ejected through the windshield (which pops out easily for safety reasons), and he struck the brick wall of house headfirst. In an effort to keep the swelling of his brain from killing him, they had to remove the top of skull to reduce the pressure. Further, about 20% of his occiptal lobe was dead. There was a slight chance of the body healing and his brain regaining some function, but today we heard they have pronounced him brain dead. He probably won't see the end of the week, and may not see the end of today.
He is 21.
There is no excuse for not wearing your seat belt, ever. Accidents happen, which is why they're called accidents. BUCKLE UP.
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