Fatalities highlight need for seatbelt use: RCMP

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This article was published 30/05/2023 (330 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nathanial Ryzner was driving home the day after attending his mother’s memorial service in southwestern Manitoba last week when he lost control of his vehicle.

It would be the final moments of his life. Ryzner, 19, wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

“Almost all rollover crashes are survivable if you’re buckled up,” said RCMP Sgt. Mark Hume. “The risk of dying or being seriously injured without a seatbelt is very high.”

The Brandon resident was driving eastbound on Highway 3 on the evening of May 21 after again heading to Pierson Cemetery in the southwest corner of the province.

He lost control and his vehicle rolled multiple times, landing on its roof on a property adjacent to the highway. He was ejected from the vehicle.

Hume said 50 per cent of the fatalities on Manitoba highways involve a person who was not wearing their seatbelt.

In 2022, 29 people died because they didn’t buckle up — the highest number of annual seatbelt-related deaths in the last five years.

On average, 19 to 29 fatalities occur annually because a passenger or driver didn’t buckle up, RCMP say.

“I think the toughest thing for the officers is going to knock on that door to tell that parent or that loved one that their family member is dead, and when it was something so simple as clicking the seatbelt on,” said Hume.

Friends of Ryzner described him as ambitious and confident, and a person who always spoke from the heart.

“Nate was always the big brother a lot of us wish we had,” said Mackenzie McLennan, a friend. “He was loyal to all of his friends and made everyone feel a part of the group.”

Ryzner graduated from high school in Brandon in 2022, where he’d been a running back and linebacker on the boys varsity football team for four years.

In November 2022, his mother, Marcia Ryzner, died of Huntington’s disease.

“When his mom died, his whole world came crashing down, but he picked himself up and was living life for her,” said McLennan. “He always said that when they meet again, they’re going to take a walk under the stars together.”

Ryzner often said that when he “got rich” he would donate his money to researching the disease. He was working at Grace Construction Ltd. and planned to enroll in business school in Calgary.

“He was the kind of kid who would walk into your house and go right to your pantry,” said Sasha McCarty, whose son played on the same football team as Ryzner. “It’s hard to picture life without Nate.”

On Sunday, Mounties were summoned to a fatal single-vehicle rollover in the Lake Winnipeg beach community of Sandy Hook, south of Gimli.

Two women were travelling south on Highway 9 when their vehicle veered into the ditch and rolled, around 6 a.m.

The 23-year-old passenger, from Winnipeg, was ejected and died at the scene, RCMP said.

The 20-year-old driver, from Winnipeg, sustained minor injuries.

Ember Faith, the sister-in-law of the victim, left a comment on the RCMP Facebook page saying she “was the mother of my niece” and “may her soul rest in peace.”

Hume said in the last two years, Manitoba Mounties have issued 1,374 tickets to people who weren’t wearing seatbelts while driving.

He said wearing a seatbelt is habit-forming and that people must buckle up no matter where they’re going.

“We can’t help when some other driver causes a crash or hurts our loved one, but you can control whether you buckle up or not.”

“It should be second nature these days.”

tessa.adamski@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @tessa_adamski