It screams “carefree,” it feels amazing on bare feet, and it’s up there with the most popular poses for Instagram photos. What’s so wrong with putting your feet up on the car dashboard?
Well, as it turns out, this position could be deadly, and the Chattanooga Fire Department wants to tell you all about it. Take heed; if you’re someone who loves to put their feet up, then you need to read this.
The fire department’s Bruce Garner credited an activist by the name of Colin Bennett from the United Kingdom for the original post.
“Something you need to know,” the post began. “While traveling this weekend, I noticed many passengers had their feet on the dashboard of their car. Airbags deploy between 100 and 220 miles per hour,” Garner clarified. “If you ride with your feet on the dash and you’re involved in an accident, the airbag may send your knees through your eye sockets.”
“And yes,” the post added, as if the previous statement wasn’t arresting enough, “the driver and passenger should also be wearing seat belts!”
This casual-seeming, carefree posture could not only endanger your own safety but could also massively impact the lives of the people you love. Sadly, this safety warning is one that a certain Georgia woman is all too familiar with.
She nestled into the comfortable position, as thousands of car passengers across the nation do every single day. But here’s a little-known fact; airbags are designed to work effectively when, and only when, people’s feet are planted firmly on the floorboard of the vehicle.
“We T-boned him.”
To add insult to injury, Tatum wasn’t wearing a seat belt. As a result of this, plus her dangerous, casual sitting position, the impact shattered her nose, ankle, femur, and shoulder. The accident impacted her mobility for the next two years of her life.
“I’m not Superman,” she shared, in despair. “I couldn’t put my foot down in time!”
Tatum’s distressing experience now serves as a warning to others. After her ordeal, the now-vigilant passenger is eager for her experience to mean something. “Do not sit like that,” she said, pleading with others not to make the same mistake she did.
“If you sit like that, you’re asking for it.”
