How accidents may affect your well-being
Speed thrills, but kills. We often lose years, in trying to save a few seconds. Night doubles traffic troubles. Roads are flooded with such safety slogans, yet we ignore them. Let us realize their importance before it's too late!
Road accidents have killed more people than World Wars. Every 1.9 minutes someone in the planet loses their battle against a road accident. It's high time; we understand the consequences of disobeying the rules of safe driving.
Let's learn more about the consequences, facts and figures in this article.
- Everyday 3,300 people die and 6,600 people face serious injuries across the world due to accidents.
- Alcohol or drug use is the single biggest cause of most road accidents. Distraction (talking while driving), sleep deprivation, old age are other reasons.
- Brain or spinal cord injury can mean a life altering change! In serious cases, the victim may become paralyzed below the neck. There have been cases where a person was forced to live on a ventilator all their life, after losing control over breathing.
- In most head and spinal cord injury cases, complete recovery may not happen. The location of injury; how soon the person receives medical care, etc are crucial factors.
- Symptoms of head injury may take days or even weeks to appear. If a person has been in an accident, it is always advisable to get a complete thorough check up done.
- Helmets protect 2-wheeler riders from head injury by absorbing some of the shock and trauma to the skull.
- Injury to spinal cord, depending on the location of injury and severity, may cause – loss of sensation, paralysis, inability to regulate heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, body temperature, bowel and bladder function.
- Injury to brain, depending on the location of injury and severity, may cause paralysis, loss of senses (touch, smell, vision, speech), inability to breathe, loss of memory. The victim might slip into a vegetative state. In extreme cases, brain death may also occur.
- After accident, the time under which the victim receives medical care is crucial for survival and recovery, often referred as the golden hour.
- Most of serious accident survivors are unfortunately confined to bed or wheel chair, due to injury of spine or brain.
How can we steer clear of facing such risks? Simple! We all collectively have to work to prevent accidents. Preventing road accident is a better, cheaper, healthier and smarter option. Here are a few things you can do -
- Have common traffic sense – Don't drink and drive or talk and drive. Drive at optimum speed (neither too fast nor too slow). Stick to your lane while driving.
- Practice defensive driving – Be cautious while driving and expect trouble. It helps you be better prepared in case of any mishap, especially at night.
- Use a helmet – Protect yourself from brain injury; use a helmet while riding a 2 wheeler. Make sure you buy helmets with an ISI mark.
- Wear seat belt – Seat belts prevents you from facial fractures, brain and spinal cord injuries, by preventing passengers from hitting the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield glass.
- Buy a safer car – If you are looking to buy a car, look for safety features such as – seat belts, air bags, head-restraints, etc. It is designed to cause minimum damage to the passengers and people around it.
