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Statement of Abigail Baglioni

Tappan, New York

March 23, 2004

My name is Abigail Baglione, and I’m a recent graduate of the State University New York Purchase. I was a good student, but one thing I never expected to learn was how quickly and completely a life can be demolished by one wrong turn. Mine was devastated by an SUV.

On September 20, 2000, my girlfriends and I were celebrating my return from Europe in New Haven, Connecticut. I was 21 years old. I don’t remember anything from the time we went to our car. I’m told one of the girls had left her purse behind and asked Nora, the driver, to go back to get it. As she made a U-turn, we were broadsided by a Jeep Cherokee, with the brunt of the impact focused directly where I was sitting, the front passenger seat. Immediately after the crash, Nora thought I was dead. I was silent and still with my eyes partially open. I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, along with a few broken bones.

Doctors operated on me to reduce brain swelling. I was placed on total life support for 10 days. I remained in a coma for seven weeks. Rehabilitation continued intermittently for more than two years. In spite of this, I graduated last May with my BA in Psychology while maintaining a 3.5 GPA. Currently, I am seeking my master’s in occupational therapy at a community college.

I am grateful to be here, but I am angry. My injuries, and those of nearly 400,000 people who suffer a traumatic brain injury each year, did not have to happen. The sedan I was in was not equipped with current safety features, such as side-curtain airbags. Certainly, car buyers rank safety as a high priority, but often they don’t know what to look for to help avoid severe injuries in a collision. Seat belts are only 57 percent effective in preventing traumatic and fatal brain injuries. The driver and I were the only passengers in the car that night wearing our seatbelts, and I was the only passenger to sustain such an injury. Front and side air bags, combined with lap-shoulder safety belts, offer the most effective protection available for vehicle passenger occupants. The public needs to know that head protection in their car or truck is not a luxury – it’s essential.

We’ve made front air bags mandatory. Now side-curtain air bags must be made available as standard equipment in all cars and trucks, not just higher-end vehicles. Someone needs to sound the alarm to gain the attention of the public and our public officials, turning them toward a hazard that inflicts more suffering than most of the ills that are grabbing today’s headlines combined.

It’s time for Washington to drive this point home. It’s time to begin saving America from complacency. Millions of us are proclaiming—it’s time.

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