In a crash, your chances of avoiding serious injury are better if you
- are wearing a lap belt and a shoulder strap ✓
- are thrown clear of the vehicle
- have a firm grip on the steering wheel
- are wearing a lap belt
Answer: A. are wearing a lap belt and a shoulder strap
Your chances of avoiding serious injury are better when you are wearing a lap belt and a shoulder strap.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says a seatbelt, especially one with both a lap belt and a shoulder strap, makes you much less likely to be injured, knocked unconscious or ejected in a crash. It also notes that being ejected or thrown from a rolling vehicle is likely to cause serious injury or death. The shoulder strap is part of the system that keeps you secured, and the handbook warns against wearing it in the wrong position. So the combined lap and shoulder belt is the choice linked to better odds of avoiding serious injury.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. are thrown clear of the vehicle — Being thrown clear is not safer; the handbook says ejection from the vehicle is likely to result in serious injury or death and that a seatbelt helps prevent ejection.
- C. have a firm grip on the steering wheel — A firm grip on the steering wheel is not what the handbook credits with reducing crash injuries; it only says the seatbelt helps support you behind the wheel and keep control.
- D. are wearing a lap belt — A lap belt by itself is not the best protection described; the handbook singles out a seatbelt with a lap belt and a shoulder strap as especially effective at lowering injury risk.
Remember it
Think chest and hips: the lap belt goes low, the shoulder strap across the chest, and together they hold you in.