FAYETTEVILLE — Science teacher Yvonne Humphreys is grateful for her decision to wear a seat belt after she was involved in a serious car crash with two other vehicles in October 2021.
“If I had not been wearing my seatbelt, I could have been launched through my front window since the person who hit me was going full speed,” Humphreys said. “I’m a science teacher, so I understand the force involved in this wreck. I tell my students to always buckle up.”
Humphreys’ decision has earned her the December “Saved by the Belt” award for the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program, an organization in the N.C. Department of Transportation
Humphreys, who works in Cumberland County, knows today how fortunate she was to be alive when she recalls the particulars of the crash.
After meeting her mother for dinner, she was headed home when her vehicle was struck from behind. The crash pinned her Toyota Corolla between two other vehicles.
Her airbag did not deploy. But she says her seat belt saved her from going through the windshield and sustaining anything more than minor injuries.
Mark Ezzell, director of the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program, says Humphreys is a living example of the importance of wearing a seat belt.
“You’re half as likely to be fatally injured in a crash if you buckle up,” Ezzell said. “It is fortunate Ms. Humphreys was wearing her seat belt, and we appreciate her spreading the word to her students to buckle up every seat every time.”
The Saved by the Belt initiative raises awareness about the importance of everyone buckling up by highlighting people who avoided serious injury or death in a motor vehicle crash by wearing their seat belts.
Share your “Saved by the Belt,” stories to raise awareness, and follow us @NCGHSP on Facebook and @NC_GHSP on Twitter and Instagram. For more information, visit www.ncghsp.org.