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The Nebraska State Patrol honored a crash survivor Tuesday with a “Seat Belt Survivor Award.”
According to the patrol, on the evening of Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, Nina Papousek, 32, was involved in a two-vehicle fatality crash on the Highway 92 Bridge in Saunders County.
Papousek was driving east on Highway 92 when a pickup crossed the center line, striking her vehicle nearly head on.
The woman driving the pickup was killed. Papousek, who was seriously injured, was taken to an Omaha hospital.
Patrol Maj. Russ Stanczyk said survivor awards are given out two or three times a year.
The award is “first of all to tell people, ‘Hey, thank you for wearing your seat belt,’” Stanczyk said. It’s also designed to help raise awareness of the importance of wearing safety belts, he added.
“About 50 percent of the fatality accidents could be prevented if somebody would just wear their seat belt,” he said.
“Roadways, vehicles these days are pretty safe,” he continued. “You see a lot of accidents where the ‘cage,’ or the interior part of the car, isn’t bad. It did what it was supposed to, everything else crushed around it, but it remained intact and available for safety if folks would wear their seat belts.”
The outcome of Papousek’s crash could have been very different, he said, if she weren’t wearing her seat belt.
“The Nebraska State Patrol is proud to honor Nina,” Stanczyk said. “She is with us today, because she took the time to buckle up. We encourage everyone to follow her lead.”
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