Whoever said wearing a seat belt is uncool is a schmuck

December time is the best time of the year for most of us. People go away on holiday, some stay at home with family and friends and others go partying and drinking.

I happen to be one of those that go partying and drinking. “Sidl’ubusha bethu". It literally means we are eating our youth, but what it really means is that we are having the time of our lives.

I went out the whole of December 2017 with no breaks in between. I was "eating my youth", having the time of my life with friends, meeting people and making new friends.

Going out at night makes you notice quite a lot of things. One of the things I took note of, and probably the most brainless and ignorant things, was that wearing a seat belt is seen as uncool by people around my age group. (I am 21 by the way. Yes I just told you my age. I am not one of those woman that are secretive about their age). Wearing a seat belt somehow kills the vibe, and affects the "cool driving posture". Wearing a seat belt as a passenger also seems to offend the driver. It comes across as if you are doubting their ability to get you to your destination safe and sound.

Him: Why are you wearing a seat belt? I only had 1 beer. I am not even tipsy

Me: I know that. Do you think I would even get in the car if I knew you were drunk

Him: So why are you wearing it? Don't you trust me?

Me: It is not about you. You are not the only one on the road and there is probably someone out there that's had more than 1 beer tonight.

That is a conversation I had with my ex-boyfriend once before. See, to him it felt like I did not trust him because I insisted on wearing a seat belt, but it was not about him. It is about my safety and acknowledging the fact that we are not the only ones driving and that they might be someone driving under the influence. One of the things that we need to understand is that you don't need to cause the accident to be part of it and my ex clearly didn't understand this (I think you can understand why he is now my ex 😉).

I work for a property company in Sandton and I use a bus to get to work every day. Traffic into Sandton is the worst and it sometimes takes 2 hours to get to work. Being stuck in traffic makes you pay attention to the most ridiculous things. From people wearing earphones in a car that clearly has a radio and Bluetooth (How weird is that though). To couples that travel together but in dead silence. To probably the worst sight; seeing a family travelling together with a child in the backseat, on their way to dropping off the kid at school and both parents are wearing seat belts whilst the child is leaning towards the front seats of the car using both elbows for balance. We often think that it is okay to carry our children on our laps or to leave them unbuckled, but what we do not account for are the forces that get involved in a collision. If a child is in the back seat and the car has a collision when the car comes to a stop the child is more likely to be thrown out of the car like a missile. Statistics have proven that the number of deaths or serious injuries can be decreased by 75% by just buckling up. Being cool cannot honestly be more important than being alive. Lets stay safe ✌.

Here: theGirlDoin'GreatThingz👑