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Seat Belts Key to Survival in Bridge Collapse
ABCNews ^ | Aug. 2, 2007 | EMILY FRIEDMAN

Posted on 08/03/2007 9:11:41 AM PDT by Daffynition

Plunging 60 feet off a bridge in a car sounds like a sure death sentence, but survival experts say people can and do walk away from such a calamity, for a simple reason: They were wearing their seat belts.

"The people who got out without a scratch absolutely had their seat belts on," says Brian Brawdy, survival expert and a former New York City police officer. "If you're knocked unconscious because you weren't wearing your seat belt, you won't be swimming to the surface."

Kimberly Brown, who survived the bridge collapse, told "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts that had she not been wearing her seat belt, she was certain she would have gone through her car's windshield.

With four confirmed fatalities, Minneapolis authorities say they expect the death toll to rise as vehicles' that fell more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River are recovered.

Chances of surviving for those still submerged in the river now almost 24 hours later are remote, experts say. The combination of the impact and the speed at which cars sink give passengers mere minutes to avoid suffocation.

"[Drivers] would have three to five minutes, depending on how much of the water is rushing in and then given the size of the car," says Brawdy.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Local News; Miscellaneous; Travel
KEYWORDS: 35w; bridgecollapse; seatbelt; survival
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To: Gator101

What wimps. When I went through helicopter dunker training, we had no knives and did it blindfolded three times! No $hit, Miramar NAS, 1988.


21 posted on 08/03/2007 11:04:29 AM PDT by CholeraJoe (WARNING: Dangerous to pregnant women and small children. May burst into flames at any time.)
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To: Gator101
If you do I recommend something with a serrated edge... The instructor knew we carried knives and selt-belt cutters so he reminded us to only use them as a last resort if the seat-belt wouldn’t release. I guess people get in the mindset that they have to use their tools even if the usual method would still work and is much quicker.

**************

Great advice. Thanks so much.

22 posted on 08/03/2007 11:10:24 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: CholeraJoe
Well we couldn’t use knives in the dunker either and we also had to do it blindfolded.

I didn’t get the chance in the big dunker however, (the one that simulated a big helicopter like a Chinook or Sea Knight) but my buddies who did told me that was a fun experience! Nothing like getting a boot in the face as you and a bunch of other guys all try to get out after being blindfolded, submerged, and inverted.

23 posted on 08/03/2007 11:11:34 AM PDT by Gator101
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To: Daffynition

Oh geesh.


24 posted on 08/03/2007 11:12:14 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: Daffynition

“Chances of surviving for those still submerged in the river now almost 24 hours later are remote”

Did they ask those submerged if they were wearing their belts?

How many stuck there were stuck in place because of the belt?


25 posted on 08/03/2007 11:14:23 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: Gator101

It was fun after you got over the sheer terror of what you were about to have to do. We were also trained on the Helicopter Emergency Escape Device (HEED) which is like a miniature scuba tank you carry on your vest. It has 5 minutes of air. Fortunately I never had to use it for real.


26 posted on 08/03/2007 11:15:38 AM PDT by CholeraJoe (WARNING: Dangerous to pregnant women and small children. May burst into flames at any time.)
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To: Clam Digger

And it’s worse with today’s most-common seatbelt-latch design. It’s DIFFFICULT to unhook with a thin vertical “button” enclosed by the casing from the END of the body.

The old seatbelts were better, where the button was in the middle of the HORIZONTAL plane and easy to push.

Of course, I’m sure they were “thinking of the children” when they re-designed to the vertical orientation - so the children won’t unlatch. Of course.


27 posted on 08/03/2007 11:18:45 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: Daffynition
This should become standard equipment in all cars:

28 posted on 08/03/2007 11:19:50 AM PDT by NCC-1701 (PUT AN END TO ORGANIZED CRIME. ABOLISH THE I.R.S.)
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To: Gator101

I just think of Mary Jo Kopechne (sp?). We all know thanks to her that you don’t survive very long under water even with an air pocket.


29 posted on 08/03/2007 11:20:42 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: Turbopilot

Waving my hand here.


30 posted on 08/03/2007 11:22:03 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: CholeraJoe

But many of them landed on their BUTTS with that force. At least those who were on still-horizontal sections. Airbags ain’t helping much there. That night I heard about butt injuries. And I know something about the latter, too!


31 posted on 08/03/2007 11:24:31 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: mtbopfuyn
How many kids on the bus were wearing seatbelts? None, since school buses don’t have seatbelts. I’m not saying seatbelts are a safety device, but lets have some honest reporting.

The school bus didn't fall off the bridge, thank God. It stopped a few feet short. If it had, those kids would have likely been dead.

Wear your seat belts.

32 posted on 08/03/2007 11:26:53 AM PDT by Ditto (Global Warming: The 21st Century's Snake Oil)
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To: Hegemony Cricket
can we pretty much assume that when they finally get through the murky water and start pulling bodies out of cars, that none of them will be wearing seatbelts?

No, but it's a darn fine chance that each person who did escape from their car after it hit the water was wearing their seatbelt. It's a logical fallacy to assume that if x=y then z=/=y.

Those who both wear seatbelts and those who do not wear seatbelts die in accidents such as this. Those who wear seatbelts have a dramatically improved chance to survive accidents such as this.

33 posted on 08/03/2007 11:31:01 AM PDT by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: the OlLine Rebel
We all know thanks to her that you don’t survive very long under water even with an air pocket.

Yeah..but maybe just long enough for a certain, ahem, *gentleman* to rescue you or get help...that is if he isn't too drunk or too busy running off to find his lawyer.

34 posted on 08/03/2007 11:39:01 AM PDT by Gator101
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

You could ask my aunt, since she is alive, about it.

Her car flipped upside down into a water-filled ditch, breaking the windows, and instantly filling the car with water.

If she had had to fumble with unfastening the seatbelt, chances are overwhelmingly slender that she would have made it out.


35 posted on 08/03/2007 11:42:06 AM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (You can take the boy out of the country, but you just can't get the smell off his shoes.)
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To: the OlLine Rebel

Seriously?? Are you depressed/suicidal? Or is it one of those things where you didn’t wear a seatbelt when you learned to drive in 1934 and you’ll be darned if you’ll start now?


36 posted on 08/03/2007 11:43:54 AM PDT by Turbopilot (iumop ap!sdn w,I 'aw dlaH)
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To: Hegemony Cricket
Surprised she wasn't knocked unconscience or badly injured from a flipped car with no seatbelt on. It's actually quite miraculous.

Of course, everyone has an relative who would have been dead if he had been wearing a seatbelt. It's always the case.

I, on the other hand, have been in 3 accidents where there has been a person killed. On my count, there were a total of 11 people involved in those accidents. 4 dead, 1 hospitalized, 6 walk aways. All 4 of the dead were not wearing seatbelts. All 7 of the survivors were.

So I'll take my personal experiences, weigh them against your aunt's miraculous survival story and come to the conclusion... wearing a seatbelt increases your survival odds by a gigantic proportion.

37 posted on 08/03/2007 11:56:51 AM PDT by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

Awesome.

I’m curious, though. Do you believe that there should be a law requiring the wearing of seatbelts?


38 posted on 08/03/2007 12:00:05 PM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (You can take the boy out of the country, but you just can't get the smell off his shoes.)
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To: Hegemony Cricket

I’ll counter, do you believe there should be a speed limit?


39 posted on 08/03/2007 12:03:18 PM PDT by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

Yes.

Your turn.


40 posted on 08/03/2007 12:12:13 PM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (You can take the boy out of the country, but you just can't get the smell off his shoes.)
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