I used to work with someone that actually believed your meme. She got T-boned driving to work one morning and ejected from her car. 26 year old smart beautiful woman. Brain damaged, communicated through grunts and head nods or shakes, and a parapalegic for the rest of her life
I've seen it many a time. Sadly it is usually caused by one of two things these days.
One is laziness, the kind of laziness that goes with not hooking a seatbelt up in a vehicle, even when just backing up. Yes it is inconvenient, however we do what we practice, and if your practice is to not hook up a seatbelt for little stuff, or bypassing the seatbelt altogether, it becomes easy for the habit to kick in when you are actually going to drive the vehicle somewhere. Often when someone is in a hurry or has other things on their mind. If you hook up that seat belt every time, all the time then your muscle memory will kick in and you will hook the thing up without thinking about.
The other basic reason these days is the time honored "Merican" tradition of "they can't tell me what to do."
It's sad when such things happen. No one should have to go to someones house at 3 a.m. to tell a family that someone isn't coming home and no you really don't want to see them right now.
I had a good friend who when through the windshield of a vehicle back in high school. Of course the vehicle she was riding in was not equipped with seatbelts as early 1960's vehicle often didn't come with them. She lived but they put over 300 stitches in her face and scalp. She never looked like the girl we knew.