Consumer Report: Keep Your Seat Upright When Driving
by CBS3's Jim Donovan for KYW Newsradio 1060
Prashant Kumar lost both legs and nearly died in a car accident:
"I was in a coma for two and half months."
While Kumar was securely buckled in, he wasn't safely seated. He was reclined, leaving him more at risk.
Dr. Eileen Bulger is a trauma and critical care specialist for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle:
"You can impact your chest. You can have fractures of the spine. You can have head injury from your head kind of whipping forward as well. And then the severe injuries to the legs come from sliding forward into the dashboard."
Bulger says that partially reclined passengers who are involved in an accident increased their risk of death by 15 percent. Fully reclined passengers increased their risk by 70 percent.
So keep your seat upright in the car!
