'I found out the hard way' Published June 9, 2011 By Anonymous Seat Belt Use Offender MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- Why didn't I wear my seat belt? I'm too young to die. I was only a block from home. It's not fair to my family. These are just a few things that could be going through your mind as you fly through the wind shield during an otherwise preventable accident. "Wear your seat belts," says my mom every time we sit in the car. Seat belts are not just there so we wouldn't get a ticket. The reason we wear seat belts is because when you get into a car accident, the chances of getting severely injured are greatly reduced. Here are some facts on people who don't wear seat belts. -63 percent of people killed in car accidents are not wearing their seat belts. -Every hour someone dies in America simply because they didn't take two seconds to buckle up. -52 percent of accidents occur within a 5-mile radius of home. There are just too many ways someone can get seriously injured or even die from not wearing a seat belt. Seat belts protect you from being thrown out of your vehicle. Wearing a seat belt also minimizes the body's contact with the interior of the car resulting in fewer injuries. Not wearing a seat belt can also harm the person/people you are driving with by slamming into each other. The average medical costs are a lot less for belted drivers compared to unbelted drivers. God forbid you would have to be in the commander's shoes and tell parents their son or daughter died from a minor accident that could've easily been prevented from wearing a seat belt. There is no logical way to tell them. If you decide to not wear your seat belt on base, you will get caught. Trust me when I say this, you do not want to have to endure what I had to all because I refused to wear a seat belt. It doesn't matter if you are making a long trip or a short trip; accidents can and do happen in all situations.