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When speaking about cars, bad driving habits and general rules for road safety, the focus is always on the driver. We need to equally pay attention to passengers whose lives could be placed at risk because of their bad sitting habits. Most of us know by now that we should buckle up when we get inside a car, but no one really pays attention to the WHERE and HOW when it comes to riding in a car despite those specifications having a massive impact on your safety should you get involved in a car accident. 

1. Wearing the seatbelt under your arm

Getting ejected from a vehicle is almost always deadly. The importance of wearing a seat belt is emphasized often because it helps prevent fatalities by keeping you safe and tightly secured inside your vehicle during a car crash. It is also important to note that the seat belt is designed to fit your body in a certain way. When it’s sitting as it should over your shoulder, it crosses over your collarbone, which is strong. When you wear the seat belt under your arm, it crosses your ribs, which are weaker than your collarbone. Additionally, if the seat belt is under your arm when you get involved in an accident, it will not be able to stop your torso from propelling forward and colliding with the airbag which gets deployed at 320km/h.

2. Feet on the dashboard

Sitting in the front passenger seat with your feet on the dashboard feels very comfortable, but it’s dangerous because it changes the way the seat belt rests on your body. This means that if you get involved in a car accident, your upper body could flip over the belt, causing injury to your abdomen and back. 

If you get into an accident with your feet placed on the dashboard and the front airbags get deployed, your knees will be pushed into your face. According to MotorHappy, airbags usually inflate at about 320km/h. Its deployment could cause considerable damage to your entire body, not just your feet and legs.  

3. Passenger seat reclined

As with your feet on the dashboard, when you recline the passenger seat, the seat belt no longer fits the way it is meant to. Instead of fitting over the chest and lap, it moves to your neck and abdomen, and in an accident, this could damage your neck and internal organs. 

4. Riding with a child or dog on the lap

Riding as a passenger in the front seat with your child or dog on your lap is dangerous, again, because of the speed at which your airbag inflates. Positioned between you and your airbag, your child or pet would be seriously injured, if not killed, and the force at which they slam into your abdomen will cause serious internal injuries, too.

Children should always be safely secured in the back seat, with the correct child seat for their weight and height. Pets, too, are safer when wearing a harness that is buckled to the seatbelt or in a secured carrier.