First sergeant testifies to seatbelt safety

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Marc Barnes
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AFPN) --  When Master Sgt. Thomas Dunlap buckled his seatbelt after climbing into his truck recently, he was not thinking about personal-risk management. He was simply doing what came naturally after years of accident-free driving.

But as the 436th Services Squadron first sergeant crawled out of his wrecked pickup in a snow-covered field a few minutes later, he said he had no doubt his seatbelt had saved his life.

The day started out just as any other, with the exception of a little snow on the ground and some icy road conditions caused by a winter storm. Speaking from his home where he was still recovering from minor injuries he sustained in the crash, Dunlap said having an accident was the last thing on his mind as he drove toward the base that Monday morning.

The sergeant was driving his normal route when he hit an icy spot and lost control as the truck turned sideways and veered off the road. Moments later, the tires blew when they hit a ditch and then the truck went airborne. After flipping over three times, the vehicle landed on its side in an open field.

“(This accident) just shows that you never know what’s going to happen from one minute to the next,” Dunlap said. “Having a wreck was the last thing on my mind, but it happened so quickly that it was unbelievable. One second I was driving down the road, and the next my truck was flying through the air. There was no time to react.”

Dunlap said he has always thought the decision to ride without a seatbelt is a foolish one, but after his brush with death, he said he has become a true believer. As he gathered his thoughts while lying on his side in his wrecked pickup, still firmly in his seat thanks to his seatbelt, he said he realized he would be dead if he had not taken a few seconds to “click in” before driving.

Staff Sgt. Justin Grant, a 436th Airlift Wing ground safety specialist here, said Dunlap’s accident is simply another number to add to long-standing statistics which show drivers and passengers in vehicle accidents are more likely to survive if they are buckled up.

Wearing a seatbelt decreases the risk of death or serious injury in car accidents by approximately 50 percent, Delaware safety officials said. As many as 30 people each year for the last decade could have survived Delaware crashes if they had buckled up, based on these estimates. That translates into 300 preventable deaths since 1992.

And it is those preventable deaths that are the focus of the Air Force’s efforts to remind airmen to wear seatbelts, Grant said.

“For decades, Air Force people have heard about the importance of wearing seatbelts at one safety briefing after another. It’s gotten to the point where many people have heard it so many times, they just ‘turn off’ when someone starts talking about seatbelts. But as with all safety issues, it’s vital for people to hear and heed safety regulations,” Grant said. “Wearing seatbelts is the law, but most important, it can and does save lives.”

Dunlap said he can testify to the truth of that statement.

“There is no doubt I would have been killed if I hadn’t worn my seatbelt. I would have been thrown from my truck, but (the seatbelt) held me right in my seat, and I know it saved my life,” Dunlap explained. “The bottom line is that seatbelts do save lives. I am a testimony to that.”