Sometimes members of Congress can set a good example for us their constituents.

It may not have been the way some of our so-called solons would like to do it, but Representative Luis R. Villafuerte of the Second District of Camarines Sur performed a good deed for advocates of buckling up in vehicles.

He did it by surviving a motor accident while wearing a seatbelt.

According to story sent in by one of Manila Bulletin's reporters, Villafuerte was riding in a Nissan Patrol which lost control and rolled over a number of times on a slippery road in Barangay San Luis, Tagkawayan, Quezon.

The solon and his other companions inside the Patrol survived the accident because they were all wearing seatbelts.

At least, that’s how our reporter told the story, citing Daisy Jacobo, the Land Transport Office Traffic Safety Division chief as his source.

Villafuerte will now join the millions who’ve survived a motor accident without severe injury thanks to the invention of Scandinavian carmaker Volvo.

The story reminds us all to wear seatbelts whenever traveling in vehicles.

It also raises the issue that not all Filipinos have the habit of taking advantage of the belt that could save their lives in an accident.

The story cited statistics from the National Statistical Coordination Board which showed that in 2008, traffic authorities caught and fined 141,371 people not wearing seatbelts in vehicles on the road.
It said this was 5,875 more than violators of Republic Act 8750, or the Seatbelt Use Act, caught in 2007.

Not wearing seatbelt is on top of the list of traffic violations in the country.

This could be interpreted as a disturbing trend that show more motorists are becoming complacent about not wearing seatbelts, or traffic authorities on the field are more eagle-eyed about looking for unbuckled motorists.

In 2005, a year after RA 8750 was first implemented, 139,618 violations were recorded. This rose to 154,984 in 2006, and dropped to 135,497 in 2007.

That the number rose again in 2008 should alarm safety advocates in government and in the private sector. There is a need to remind people to buckle up.

We can’t have more congressmen getting involved in accidents to remind us.