Grisly Fate May Await Unbuckled Drivers

Failing to use a seat belt can kill someone _ and not just the person who neglected to use it.

In a crash, “an unrestrained occupant is nothing more than a flying piece of debris,’’ said State Trooper Brian Talbot of the traffic program section of the Massachusetts State Police.

He visited yesterday with a device that simulates what happens to people in rollover crashes.

His visit was one of a series of events held at the school this week to encourage students to drive safely.

Talbot spun the car, filled with dummies representing the driver and youngsters in the back seat, to show the ramifications of failing to buckle up.

When the dummies were buckled, they remained secure even when the vehicle rolled. In a real crash, these people might be banged up but they would probably not suffer serious injuries, Talbot said.

With their seat belts off, the results were visibly and graphically different.

One dummy sprawled on the school parking lot. The “toddler’’ landed beneath the vehicle.

These same images can be all too real, he told the youngsters.

At one crash in Revere, an unbelted young person took off a portion of another person as he flew through the air. The two people landed outside the vehicles.

Or at least a portion of their bodies did.

Talbot shared this grisly story and the rollover simulations to remind young people to buckle up. “That decision you make that morning can make a big difference,’’ he said.

He also shared a message that the youngsters may not have heard before: Items in vehicles can be deadly.

A 40-pound book bag traveling the same speed as the car in a crash “is going to do a lot of damage.’’ Even the hard plastic “eyes’’ of a seemingly harmless stuffed animal can injure someone, he said.

He suggested that the young people secure items with netting or in the trunk.

And he urged them to take steps _ using a seat belt, refusing to travel with someone who is drinking, staying off the phone while driving _ that could save their lives.

“If there’s a difference you can make to get yourself home’’ safely, do it, he said.