Crash Victim Speaks Out Need for Tougher Seat Belt Laws
As Lee High School student Roderic Scott is about to be laid to rest this weekend, another passenger in the car from that fatal Chilton County wreck last week is speaking out.
[gtxvideo vid=”CjuLnbAw” playlist=”” pid=”2gxTqEDg” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/CjuLnbAw-120.jpg?cachebust=1457542812572″ vtitle=”seatbelt law”]
Akyrah Oliver is grateful to be alive after being thrown from the wrecked car.
“The last thing I saw before I close my eyes was the driver with the phone in her hand. She was trying to control the wheel with the other hand,” said Oliver.
She wears a back brace with broken ribs and bruised lungs.
Oliver and the other two passengers in the back seat were not wearing their seat belts and were ejected from the car.
According to Alabama law, they were not breaking the law because of their ages.
“The seat belt statute requires all occupants regardless of where they are sitting in a vehicle under the age of 15 to be restrained and it also requires all front seat passengers regardless of age to be restrained,”said Sgt. Steve Jarrett.
In fact, Alabama is one of 22 states that does not require back seat passengers older than 15 to buckle up.
However, Oliver says she wants to change that.
“Seatbelts save lives. I wish all of us would put our seat belt on.”
She says she and her family want to honor Roderic Scott’s memory and be advocates for seat belt use as well as safe driving.
