We're willing to bet that more than a handful of our readers have experienced an on-road collision at one point or another. Hopefully, you had your seatbelts on when you did, because it doesn't take much of a hit to faze a vehicle's passengers. Care to take a guess how fast a car's speed has to be in order to shake up its occupants? You're probably thinking somewhere along the lines of 30kph. Try 8kph.
So it's imperative that passengers keep their seatbelts on for the duration of the drive. The Connecticut state police, together with the University of Hartford Department of Public Safety, have come up with the perfect way to "convince" students to use seatbelts. The Convincer is a simple contraption designed to simulate the effects of a vehicular collision at just 8kph (or 5mph in the US). As you can see in the video below, that slow speed was more than enough to encourage people to buckle up for safety.
Passengers inside the Convincer were surprised at what an 8kph impact felt like, with some even complaining of pain afterwards. We have the feeling that it shouldn't take a simulated collision to convince Pinoys about the benefits of buckling up--a solid hour in a regular bus or jeepney should suffice, as you'll be jerking back and forth for the entirety of your trip. Now, if only our PUVs could provide passengers with seatbelts...
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