During March various awareness days for those living with disabilities are marked including International Wheelchair Day on 1 March and World Head Injury Awareness Day on 20 March. The importance of bringing attention to both days cannot be underestimated.
Worldwide it is estimated that between 30 and 50% of car crashes result in spinal injuries. In South Africa, the top cause of head injuries is motor vehicle, bicycle or vehicle-pedestrian accidents, accounting for up to 50% of brain injuries.
As safety technology advances, there is an ever-increasing number of ways to reduce these injuries. The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, expands: “Yet, the two most important safety features reducing brain and spinal injuries are found in every car.
“These two vital features are the headrest and seat belt. They prevent excessive neck movement and prevent ejection during a crash. Even with these statistics in mind, many drivers neglect to use headrests and seatbelts correctly or at all, exposing themselves to unnecessary risk,” says Herbert.
Headrest
The most damage occurs to drivers and occupants when their heads whip back and forth in a crash. “A headrest prevents your head from snapping backwards with excessive force and reduces the force placed on the neck.
“Some drivers, however, remove their headrests or do not adjust it to their body proportions, reducing its effectiveness. The top of the headrest should be level with your ears and as close to the head as possible,” says Herbert.
Seatbelt
Seatbelts protects occupants from the high risk of traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord damage that often results after ejection. “Additionally, there are three impacts in a crash. The first is the vehicle colliding with another object, the second is collision with surfaces in the car and last is organs colliding with other organs or the skeleton.
“A seatbelt reduces the severity of the last two impacts. A body continues to travel at the speed the vehicle was travelling before impact. A seatbelt reduces the force of this impact and spreads it across the body.”
MasterDrive had the opportunity to participate in the recent CEO Wheelchair Campaign hosted by Little Eden Society. “It brings awareness to challenges wheelchair users face. It illustrates the difficulties associated with using a wheelchair that one may not fully comprehend until it is too late.
“Some of the residents are individuals who lost their mobility or suffered brain injuries in car crashes. Their lives were on a completely different trajectory prior to the crash. While they are thriving at Little Eden, they still tragically lost their previous dreams, ambitions and mobility,” says Herbert.
Join MasterDrive in helping create the environment in which new dreams and ambitions are created. Corporations can pledge their support in different ways. MasterDrive challenges organisations to pledge their support for the organisation. There are various ways one can participate:
Follow this link to find out more:
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