BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — If you are planning to get behind the wheel in these snowy conditions, you should know that data from the federal government shows the odds of you surviving a crash are much more significant if you're wearing a seat belt.
A Bowling Green couple who earned the Saved by the Belt award is pleading that you take this simple lifesaving step after a crash they were in.
State troopers say their seat belts saved their lives.
We're all guilty of doing it, getting in our cars and the first thing we do is to start it. However, the couple is asking you to think twice and instead, buckle your seat belt first.
"I remember like waiting for the car to come to a complete stop before I opened my eyes. And I'm thinking like this is it," Tim Dennis and Cindi Anderson said.
As if it were yesterday, they still remember the crash that almost took their lives about three months ago.
"They were traveling Southbound on State Route 199 near Dowling Road in Perrysburg Township. A vehicle failed to yield from a stop sign going westbound on Dowling Road. Pulled out into their path and struck them. That caused their vehicle to overturn in the ditch on the Southwest Corner side," Sgt. Shawn Fosgate with the Bowling Green Ohio State Highway Patrol post said.
However, the engaged couple was not ejected from the car because, according to Fosgate, they were both wearing their seat belts.
From there, they were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
"He said, the officer from your accident showed us these pictures and he came to us and said, 'Wow, if these two weren't wearing their seat belts, they would have died.' And it's really powerful to hear that because being in the car and thinking you're gonna die," Dennis and Anderson said.
Because of the severity of the crash, the couple was nominated to receive the Saved by the Belt award from the Bowling Green Patrol Post this February.
It comes with a certificate and a Saved by the Belt license plate.
"We want to show the public that it is really important to wear your safety belt. That they do work, that they do save lives. And this program kind of puts a face to it. You know we'll talk about what happened in the crash. You see the recipients you know during the little ceremony that we present their items to them," Fosgate said.
Fosgate added the initiative helps put a face to what could have happened to those in the car if they didn't buckle up.
Additionally, why would you gamble with something that could mean your life?
"It's a good opportunity to show the community, the people who know you, listen, it happens to anybody. We're very safe drivers. We were not a fault. It was just an honest mistake by another individual and it could've cost us our lives and it didn't because we were wearing our seat belts," Denis and Anderson said.
The couple added they are grateful to everyone who has helped them get back on their feet.
They are now asking you to think of their example when you get behind the wheel.
RELATED VIDEO: