I started wearing seatbelts long before it was mandated by our state. They just seemed like a good idea. On August 29th, 1997, I was out running errands (for work) in a 1992 Ford Ranger 4WD pick-em-up I owned at that time. I picked up a box of cabinet hardware. The bed of the truck (covered with a topper) was crammed full, so I put it up front, sitting on the passengers seat. As I was returning to the office, I was broad-sided by a garbage truck that ran a redlight. Hit directly in the drivers door.(at a 45 degree angle) (He was running around 35 MPH.) The Ranger folded up .like a tent. I wasn't hurt as bad as I could have been. Broken shoulder, 3 broken ribs, and a mild concussion. But the worst part, I was trapped in the cab for almost an hour, in spite of the fact that we came to rest on the apron of a firehouse. The garbage truck ended up on top of me. I could look out the rear window and see the under side of the transmission and engine of the Mack truck. One firefighter stuck his head in where the windshield WAS to keep me calm while they cut my truck apart. He made note of the fact that I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. I KNOW I had it on at one point. I'll never know for sure how it came to be NOT buckled around me. But....
I was now on the passenger side of the cab. The big box of cabinet hardware was to my left now. I was on the opposite side of it from when the wreck happened. I can't explain why or how I "traded places" with that box.
After I was extracated from the wreck, I noticed the steering column was shoved THROUGH the back of the cab, crushing the drivers seat. Had I remained buckled in, I would have got that steering column through my chest.
Someone was smiling down upon me that day, and decided it wasn't my time to go. It was also a "great awakening" for me. I made a 180 swing with my attitude towards life in general.
But I STILL buckle up every time I climb in to drive anywhere.