During my Driver's Education course at Concord High School, we viewed a film that featured a retired State Trooper entitled, "Room To Live". There are updated versions on youtube, and at least one from 1979 that claims to be the 'original', but it post-dates the version I saw. Our early 1970s RTL film contained no props. It was just the talking head of a retired State Trooper. While I can't remember the state in which he served, I'll never forget the trooper. What a speaker.
His message was based on the fact that there is "room to live" inside the cabin of your vehicle...when the seatbelt is properly employed. He spoke concisely, and effectively, using examples from firsthand experiences on the road.
He corroborated being the first responder to a vehicle carrying two teenage girls that got t-boned at a four-way intersection by another vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. Neither of the two girls were wearing seatbelts, and both were ejected from the vehicle. One went head-on into a telephone pole, and was killed instantly. The other girl ejected was literally cut in two. Torso to head intact, but separated from her lower half. Somehow, she was still alive. But just barely. In the childlike vocalizations of a two or three-year-old, she was pleading, "I want my mommy! I want my mommy!". She soon expired, too.
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Seeing that film was enough for me. I have never had a problem wearing a seatbelt since viewing it. If you're under 18, NH State Law requires you to wear a seatbelt. If you're 18+, common sense demands it. There's 'room to live' in that vehicle, if you wear your seatbelt. You're rolling the dice without one.
