A seat belt saved her life

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Marna Johnson knew she wasn’t going to be able to stop.

The flat terrain in rural Hamilton County dropped quickly into a hill. She was expecting that. What she wasn’t expecting was the solid sheet of ice with a thin layer of water covering the gravel road.

“It was impossible to stop,” she said. “I just thought, ‘Dear God help me,’ and I prayed the whole time. I was steering to beat the band to keep the car out of the ditch because the drop off is steep.”

Johnson knew Highway 14 would be busy with Christmas traffic when her 1997 Chevrolet Lumina blew through the stop sign. It was there she was hit broadside on the passenger door, causing both her car and the other vehicle to roll onto their tops and slide off the road.

But Johnson had buckled up that day. Just like always. She survived the crash with only minor injuries, as did the people in the other car. Their little dog died, which Johnson felt badly about, but she knows it could have been much worse.

On Monday, Johnson saw her car for the first time since the accident on Christmas Day 2007.

“I was shocked,” she said of the initial viewing. “The damage, to realize I was in there.”

The Chevy is now mounted on a flatbed trailer to be used by the Nebraska State Patrol’s Troop C as a “crash car.”

Sgt. Darwin Daily said troopers will use the car to bring home the message that seat belts save lives. It was unveiled last week at Troop C headquarters in Grand Island. Daily said it took awhile to find the right car with the right story and to secure sponsors to support the project.

Brian Levander of Levander’s Auto Service Center, stepped in to help gather sponsors and get the project completed.

Not every crash is survivable, but statistics from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety show seat belts increase a person’s odds of surviving a crash by up to 50 percent, he said.

Daily said the car is an interactive educational tool that will be taken to schools, games and anywhere large groups of people may be gathered. A story board with photos of the accident scene and Johnson’s story will accompany the car, he said.

“It’s such a good tool,” he said.

Capt. Chris Kolb said he estimates the number of fatal accidents would be cut in half if deaths due to not being buckled up or alcohol consumption were taken out of the equation.

“We hope to reach a large number of people,” he said.

Fatal accidents are up statewide this year. As of last Monday, the number was 148, up from 140 at the same time last year. In Troop C, which covers 17 counties in Central Nebraska, there had been 32 deaths due to traffic accidents, up from 15 during the same time period in 2008, he said.

Johnson said that even before her accident, she always buckled up.

“That’s mandatory in my cars,” she said. “Everyone buckles up when they get in.

“I’ve always felt strongly about it, but not as much until I got married and realized how much I had to lose.”