The latest community story submitted to Eastern Bay Road Safety highlights the importance of using restraints, whatever your age and position in the vehicle.

In 1978, Paul Eccles strapped his seat belt on and insisted his passenger did the same, despite restraints not being compulsory at the time. His stance saved their lives.

“I’d just passed my test and took a friend into town,” Paul says. “It was twilight, and the road was dry. I spotted that my friend hadn't got his seat belt fastened. 

 “I said 'Al, aren't you going to put your belt on’?

“'No, it's okay, I trust you’, replied Al.

“‘I trust me too, but it's the other buggers I don't trust’.

 “So Al fastened up,” Paul says.

 “We went round the next series of bends and met with an American woman overtaking a bus on a corner. I was doing 90 km/h and she was going faster. We hit head on at a slight angle. I had no time to do anything.”

“My first recollection after the impact was of being surprised that I was still alive. I couldn't feel my legs but my knees were past my ears. Al had seat belt injuries and found sitting up difficult for weeks. The woman, who had also been belted, had lacerations. One of the children who had been unrestrained in the back seat had been projected through the windscreen and was caught by the bonnet, which opened in the opposite way, and trapped on top of the engine. I broke a tooth, severed a nerve in my face and suffered a broken nose and facial bruising. I couldn't walk easily for a month and folk couldn't recognise me until the swelling in my face had gone down. 

“To look at both cars you would not have thought anyone would have survived. Without my seat belt my two children would not be here today and the same goes for my friend Al's family."

Paul was lucky.

Maybe you’re only going down the road to a friend’s, or around the corner to the local dairy. It doesn’t matter. Wear your seat belt, and make sure your kids are strapped in. Restraints can and do save lives. Think of your family; they want you home safely.