ZEBULON –Volunteer firefighters like Adam Massey often rank at the top of our consciousness as some of the most selfless, reliable, trustworthy heroes of modern society. However, he cites an inanimate object as one of the most undercelebrated lifesavers.
“The seat belt is my personal hero; it saved my life,” Massey, who lives near Zebulon, wrote in a briefing to the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
“On September 21, 2020, I was driving my Dodge Charger, approaching the intersection of Rocky Cross Road and Burgess Road in Nash County while en route to a fire call, when the driver of a pickup truck attempted to pass me on a double line,” Massey accounted.
“I never made the fire call. The pickup struck my driver side, the door smashed in on me, the air bags deployed, and my car did a 360 spin. Amazingly I escaped with minimal injuries and I know it was simply because of a two-second decision. I was literally ‘Saved by the Belt’,” Massey finished.
“Firefighters around the state are often first on the scene of a crash where an adult or child was tossed about a vehicle, and even out of it because they weren’t wearing their seat belt or properly restrained,” said North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs director Chief Wesley Hutchins.
“We can respond to an emergency call wherever you live across all 100 counties; but we can’t protect you when the crash happens, only a seat belt can do that; all riders must to do is wear it,” Hutchins said.
NCGHSP gathers stories like Massey’s ‘Saved by the Belt’ crash to help raise awareness of actions that can prevent 50 percent of roadway fatalities.
For sharing his story, NCGHSP’s director presented Massey a ‘Saved by the Belt’ certificate.
“Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a vehicle, reducing your odds of dying if you get in a crash by almost 50 percent,” said NCGHSP Director Mark Ezzell.
