Riding with your legs up on a vehicle’s dashboard could do a lot more damage to your body than you could imagine. The airbags on automobiles deploy at somewhere between 100 and 220 miles per hour sending a force that can cause multiple injuries to your legs as well as break your nose and potentially send your knees into your eye sockets.
According to a CBS News report, the accident Georgia residents Audra Tatum and her husband experienced, proved this warning to be all too terrifying and true. Audra admitted that riding in the passenger seat with her feet up on the dashboard was a habit her husband used to warn her about. She told the news agency that her husband, on more than one occasion would say, “If we have a wreck it’s going to break your leg.” Unfortunately she never heeded his warning until it was too late and his worst fears came true. On August 2, 2015, Audra and her husband were on their way to pick up their two sons from her parents’ house when they were involved in a car accident. The car they were driving in T-boned another vehicle causing the airbags to deploy. The extreme force of the airbags exploding threw Audra’s foot up into her face breaking her shoulder, femur and ankle and shattering her nose. At the time of the accident, Audra was resting her feet up on the dashboard and not wearing a seat belt. After the accident, she told CBS News. “I was looking at the bottom of my foot facing up at me.” Today Audra still walks with a limp and finds it difficult to stand for long periods of time. Sadly, Audra’s life was forever changed on the day that her and her husband were making a simple 4 mile drive to pick up their sons. Her doctors told her that if she had been wearing a seatbelt, and had her feet on the ground, that she more than likely wouldn’t have been injured at all.
A Facebook post shared by the Tennessee Fire Department and originally shared by road safety activist Shane O’Connor is meant to warn people of the dangers of this all too common practice of riding with your feet on the dashboard. Police and fire departments see it all the time when they are out on the roads and are concerned that people don’t understand the hazards of such a dangerous practice. They hope that by sharing stories like these, it might make people think twice before putting their feet up on the dashboard. Remember, anything can happen when you’re riding in a car, so even if it’s just a short trip, buckle up and keep your feet off the dashboard. If you need effective legal counsel you can trust, call us at 1.877.732.2491 or fill out the free consultation form in the sidebar to request a free review of your case.