I'm a better driver because of my seatbelt.

I have never heard a single person say, "I'm a better driver because of my seatbelt."

Picture this. You are an excellent driver, and you are driving an awesome pickup down the road when a distracted idiot, one of the most dangerous drivers in the world, abruptly crosses the center line and is heading right for you.

Due to your superior driving skills and attention to your surroundings, you are able to swerve hard to the right, and you are forced to take the ditch. It's a "Next Level" maneuver. You are such a good driver. You have your path through the ditch calculated so fast you even managed to swerve around the marker pole. Epic. Then your front driver's side wheel hits a large unseen hole and mound of earth that bounces your entire car upward and to the right. Your head hits your truck's roof, and you land with your right butt cheek halfway between the driver and passenger seat on the center consul. Your pickup turns to the left because you are still holding on to the steering wheel. You begin to pull yourself back into the driver's seat…Screech…. your truck narrowly misses a small tree but the branches leave scratches down the entire driver's side as you drive past. Once you get back into the driver's seat, your truck is now a bit off your calculated course, and you panic slam the breaks. You turn the wheel to avoid the fence as your truck slides to an abrupt stop like it was sliding into home plate. Your Safe!

Your heart is racing as you work your way through what just happened. A week later, the estimate to repaint your truck is $3500 (Thanks, Little Tree) but since there wasn't an official "crash," the other guy's insurance isn't going to pay for it. It's all on you.

How could you have saved $3500 in this case? Your seatbelt. If you wore your seatbelt, you wouldn't have been bounced out of the driver's seat for a moment and would have been able to maintain complete control of your truck. With your superior driving skills, you would have missed that little tree by a mile and only kicked up some dust.

The moral of the story…your seatbelt does a lot more than potentially saving your life during a crash. It can help you avoid a crash all together. It can keep you in the driver's seat so you can maintain or regain control of your vehicle when the unexpected happens. It is hard to hit the brake, gas, or even steer if you are bouncing around. The seat belt holds you down and in a position where you can show off your "Next Level" driving skills as you avoid those other idiot drivers, your mother warned you about.

Ever watch a Rally Car Race? How do they maintain such control?

These driver's would never be able to control these super cars if they got bounced out of their driver's seats. They can drive like this because they are fully buckled in. They are buckled in so well, they are litterly wearing their car.

Thanks for being a great driver and for always buckling up.