RALEIGH – A Wilmington woman and her daughters are alive today because of their decision to buckle their seatbelts.
Jessica Wishnask was driving away from New Hanover High School in Wilmington with her four daughters in the car when a van swerved into Wishnask’s lane, causing her Jeep to veer straight into a utility pole.
The vehicle struck the pole with such force that the vehicle rolled. The entire family - toddlers and one older girl in the back, and Wishnask and another daughter up front - dangled from the roof, still strapped into their carseats and seatbelts. Miraculously, the family was able to unstrap the toddlers and then themselves, walking away unscathed.
“We were all unharmed and walked away with only a bruise or two, to the surprise of EMS workers and firefighters. Seatbelts truly saved our lives,” Wishnask said.
For their decision to buckle up, Wishnask and her family are being awarded the November “Saved by the Belt” Award from the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program. The Saved by the Belt initiative raises awareness about the importance of everyone buckling up by highlighting individuals who avoided serious injury or death in a motor vehicle crash by wearing their seatbelt.
“Stories like these remind us of the importance of not only buckling yourselves up, but securely buckling up your children,” said Mark Ezzell, director of the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program. “The outcome could have been much different for Jessica and her daughters if they hadn’t made an incredibly smart decision to secure all passengers in their vehicle.”
To date, in 2021, 450 North Carolinians have been killed and 926 have been seriously injured in unbelted crashes.
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