Unfortunately, yes–but you can minimize this risk by ensuring that you and every person in your car is wearing your seat belt properly.

The main mechanism of injury from an auto accident is the rapid acceleration-deceleration that occurs as a traveling car suddenly stops, swerves, or is struck (typically from the back, front, or side). We know that Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and since physics tell us that everything inside the car had been also been in motion just prior to the accident, drivers and passengers won’t stop moving until something stops them. This explains why bags and other loose items will slide off a seat if you slam on the brakes or if you take a sharp turn. Equally, this explains why it’s so important to wear a seat belt, because otherwise an unrestrained driver or passenger could be ejected from a car during an auto accident–which can be seriously life-threatening and in many cases fatal.

So, despite the unavoidable risk of potential injury caused by your seat belt doing it’s job to restrain you during an auto accident, this is far better than the avoidable risk of serious injury or even death caused by not wearing your seat belt at all. Bottom line: buckle up!