Seatbelts

Here's a completely off-topic post. An old aquaintance of mine (Julian) died in a car crash last month. The car rolled and he was not in his seatbelt and his pregant wife and two kids were okay or recovered from their injuries, but it made me think. If he had his seatbelt off, what was he doing? His dad died in a car crash when he was two years old so he ought to have known better. But even though I am an avid seat-belter, I on occasion take it off on a long car trip to grab a fallen toy -- but since I'm not really focused on the road, isn't it the most important time to be wearing the belt? I think as parents we want to help out our kids (or at least avoid being distracted by screaming or whining while we drive -- fair enough), but really, what good are we to them if we suffer the same fate as Julian?