Three people were found dead in the early hours of Friday in two separate car crashes. According to authorities, had they been wearing seat belts there’s a chance they all would have survived.

At about 11 p.m. Thursday night, a vehicle with three people driving along Drinkwater Road between Spences Bridge and Ashcroft had their vehicle fall off the road and down a steep embankment.

Sometime overnight on Highway 97C, a 26-year-old man lost control of his vehicle and hit an embankment hill and rolled several times at Hamilton Hill, about five kilometres east of Merritt.

He wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

In the case of the Drinkwater road accident, the vehicle was travelling on a narrow stretch of road and plummeted 175 feet. The vehicle rolled and none of the three men inside were wearing seat belts.

All three were ejected from the vehicle.

Two of the three men died, one of whom was found some 250 feet away from where the car came to a stop.

“I speculate everybody would have survived had they been wearing seat belts,” said Kamloops Search and Rescue (KSAR) president Alan Hobler — who attended a rope rescue of the crash at about 3 a.m. that night.

On Highway 97C, the male driver, who was the lone occupant of the vehicle, failed to properly handle a curve and ended up colliding with a gravel embankment causing his vehicle to roll.

He too was ejected when the vehicle rolled.

Merritt RCMP responded to the single vehicle accident at about 4:30 a.m. and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

RCMP Cpl. Tim Lyons said the man was ejected out of the vehicle’s back window.

Lyons said police are not sure exactly how fast the vehicle was travelling, but suspect it was more than the posted 110 km/hr speed limit and less than 150 km/hr. Alcohol is not considered a factor in this case and Lyons said the driver may have been distracted or fell asleep at the wheel.

Lyons said he’d bet his career the man would have survived had he been wearing a seatbelt.

“The vehicle rotated backwards and hit the embankment backwards,” Lyons said, adding the seatbelt would have held him in place.

When a vehicle rolls over at high speeds, occupants are fighting strong G-forces, Lyons said.

“At 50 kilometres an hour the G-force is like trying to lift a one tonne pickup, so at 100 kilometres an hour it’s like lifting two one tonne pickups,” Lyons said.

Not wearing a seatbelt leaves little chance of occupants being able to hold themselves in place during a crash, he told the Herald.

“You’re talking an extraordinary amount of force that people just don’t understand,” Lyons said.

He said he’s seen dozens of crashes where people have worn their seat belts and lived.

People should also remember to wear their seat belts properly, with the strap over the shoulder to ensure the belt performs as designed.

“Seat belts do save lives, 100 per cent. I’m a believer in that,” Lyons said.