Imagine this: You're cruising down the highway, enjoying the ride, and decide to kick back with your feet up on the dashboard. Sounds relaxing, right? But here's where it gets controversial... Emergency room doctors are urgently warning against this seemingly harmless habit, emphasizing that it could have life-altering consequences.
Many passengers, seeking comfort during road trips, instinctively prop their feet on the dashboard, often without considering the potential dangers. However, this simple act can dramatically increase the risk of severe injuries in a car accident.
Placing your feet on the dashboard is extremely dangerous. In a sudden stop, your body continues moving forward due to the car's momentum. If your feet are up, this can force your legs into a position that causes devastating injuries like hip breaks, bone fractures, and joint dislocations. For example, a woman's hips were crushed in a crash because her feet were on the dashboard.
And this is the part most people miss... Airbags, which deploy with tremendous force during a collision, can be incredibly dangerous when your feet are on the dashboard. The airbag can impact your legs with enough power to cause fractures, dislocations, and other severe injuries.
But there's more to consider: the seatbelt, your primary defense in a crash, is compromised when your feet are on the dashboard. In this position, the seatbelt can't properly restrain you, increasing the risk of being thrown forward. This can lead to severe head injuries, broken bones, or even ejection from the vehicle.
Furthermore, having your feet on the dashboard can also impede your reaction time, preventing you from bracing quickly for sudden stops or obstacles, endangering all occupants. Dr. Solomon Behar, a pediatric emergency medicine physician, emphasizes the importance of proper posture in a car. He notes that sitting upright with your feet on the floor allows the seatbelt and airbag systems to function as intended, distributing forces more evenly and reducing the risk of injury.
During a frontal collision, the body will pivot at the waist and slide underneath the lap belt, which allows the lower body to thrust forward while the upper body is unrestrained, dramatically increasing the risk of severe internal abdominal injuries and spinal damage. The knees, already pressed against the dashboard, become a pivot point while the dashboard stops the lower legs. The thigh bones are the long, strong levers that concentrate immense force on the hips and knees. This can lead to a fracture of the socket of the hip joint in the pelvis, which endangers the entire structure of the hip and often requires extensive reconstructive surgery. The long thigh bone can snap near the hip or just above the knee from the bending stress and the kneecap can be shattered as it is crushed between the femur and the dashboard.
Dr. Jacob Snow, a pediatric emergency room specialist, adds that cars are designed to protect passengers seated with their feet on the floor. This prevents the risk of your legs buckling or being pushed back into your face by the dash itself or the airbags. Many cars have special airbags designed to protect your legs. An airbag deploys at speeds between 100 and 220 MPH. If your feet are on the dashboard at the moment of deployment, the explosive force can drive your knees backward with enough violence to cause severe facial and head trauma.
So, what do you think? Are you surprised by these risks? Have you ever put your feet on the dashboard? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Let's start a conversation about car safety and how we can all make our journeys safer!
