Why wearing a lanyard whilst driving could cause you serious injury
Identity lanyards could lead to potentially life-threatening injuries if worn while driving, Public Health Wales has warned.
An alert has been issued, citing "serious traffic accidents...where the wearing of identity lanyards around the drivers’ necks has exacerbated the severity of the injuries sustained."
One example given resulted in a perforated bowel.
The health alert says: "An NHS worker stored a lot of keys on her lanyard. She got into her car and was driving home, but did not remove her lanyard. Unfortunately, she also had a crash that triggered the airbag.
“The force of the airbag caused the keys to perforate her bowel she was in hospital for over six weeks and she has been off work now for six months."
In another instance, a driver involved in a minor car crash suffered a collapsed lung after the lanyard and pass that they were wearing pushed into the drivers chest, requiring hospital treatment.
Public Health Wales has consequently "strongly advised" NHS staff to remove lanyards whilst driving.