S.A.F.E. driving advocates speak to Airmen

Published Nov. 24, 2014
By Airman 1st Class Rachel Hammes
U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- "When your car is going 45 mph, so are you. So is the case of beer in your trunk. So is the bowling ball in your back seat. When your car stops, you, the bowling ball and the case of beer, all keep going. All of those items have to hit something to stop ... usually, it's a passenger," said a national road-safety advocate here Nov. 20.

Ralph Jimenez, a former first-responder and the cofounder of Stay Alive from Education, an organization promoting safe driving habits, accepted an invite from the 10th Air Base Wing to encourage Airmen to make responsible choices behind the wheel, such as always wearing a seat belt and making sure passengers do as well.

A collision claims the life of one person every 12 minutes in the U.S., Jimenez said.
"It only takes one unrestrained occupant in a vehicle," Jimenez said before showing a video of a collision where an unrestrained passenger was thrown around in the vehicle, hitting the other passengers. Jimenez likened an unrestrained passenger involved in a collision to being like "the ball in a pinball machine."

Not for the faint of heart, Jimenez's somber presentation featured hard-hitting videos and a photo collage showing the physical damage suffered by collision victims. The safety seminar targeted Airmen under 26, the most likely group to experience a vehicle collision, Jimenez said.

Three fatal collisions occurred at the Academy since 2011 and all victims were under 21, said Vincent Easevoli, a former firefighter paramedic who regularly takes part in S.A.F.E. presentations.

"Those accidents are the result of bad judgment, and that doesn't have to happen," he said to the Airmen in the audience. "You guys are the age group mainly associated with trauma.

Easevoli detailed common procedures medical responders use to try to save lives.
"Most (immediate treatment) has to be done without anesthesia to keep the (victim's) blood pressure from dipping too low. And most of it would be prevented by wearing a seatbelt."

Easevoli said wearing a seat belt is the first step to staying alive.

"That's the simplest thing someone can do," he said. "Someone can be doing everything right, but if someone else in another vehicle makes a poor choice, they could run into each other. As leaders, you're going to have to step it up a notch. You have to protect other people as well."

Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Jimenez, assigned to the 10th Medical Group, said the presentation made her reevaluate her own driving habits.

"Every time I drive I always put my seatbelt on but after seeing all these videos, I realize I can still be harmed," she said. "It's easy to think that as long as I'm safe I'm fine, but the other drivers could be the ones making the mistakes that impact me."