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Seatbelts save lives - Belt Up New Zealand.
From the back seat of the car she could see what was about to happen.
Her mate was driving too fast when he took the corner, as he tried to keep control of the car he swung across the centreline.
Another car, also going too fast, was coming right at them.
Suzy could see the head on crash coming - and there was one thing on her mind.
"I'm not wearing a seatbelt."
The collision happened about 3pm near Maraetai in May 2000.
Seventeen years later, Suzy can remember every second.
"I was sitting in the left hand side passenger seat, my friend Hannah was on the other side.
"I could see through the front windscreen and I could see that other car coming... we were going at quite an excessive speed.
"I just knew what was going to happen, I braced myself, I knew I wasn't wearing my seatbelt which was really silly.
"I just thought 'this is going to happen' and I held on for dear life."
Suzy grabbed the handrail above the door on her left and put her right hand on the back of the passenger seat.
Then - CRASH.
The two cars collided with a combined force of at least 300km/h, police would later tell Suzy.
Both vehicles were destroyed on impact.
"It was carnage," Suzy said.
"We rolled around in the back of the car, tumbling all over the place. Everyone was knocked unconscious but I wasn't.
"I was pretty untouched."
Suzy fractured one hand and the other was badly bruised.
Her friend in the back had cuts to her face, lost three front teeth and suffered a concussion.
The males in the front were also injured, but survived.
The three occupants of the other car also survived, but sustained serious injuries including punctured lungs and internal damage.
They had to be cut from the vehicle.
At hospital later on Suzy was chatting to a police officer about the crash.
"I remember him saying to me 'if you weren't wearing a seatbelt you'd be dead, you would have died instantly'," she said.
"I just looked at him and said 'I wasn't wearing a seatbelt'... his face dropped and he went pale like he was looking at a ghost and he said something like 'you've basically been saved by angels, you should be dead'."
Suzy said the crash was the last time she failed to belt up.
Growing up, her parents had ensured she was always buckled in, but as a teenager the safety message fell short.
"I think it just wasn't at the forefront of my mind," she said.
"It just wasn't really an issue for me, I didn't think wearing a seatbelt was a big deal.
"You hear about car crashes all the time and you think 'that's unfortunate' but you never expect it to happen to you."
Now, with a daughter of her own, Suzy has a strict seatbelt policy.
"I have my seatbelt clicked in before I start the car, every time," she said.
"If you don't put your belt on you're playing with death."
*Suzy did not want her last name used.
• Safety belts save lives.
• They support you if you're in a crash or when a vehicle stops suddenly.
• The force on safety belts can be as much as 20 times your weight - this is how hard you'd hit the inside of your vehicle without restraint.
• Wearing a safety belt reduces your chance of death or serious injury in a crash by 40 per cent.
• Whether you sit in the front or the back seat, the risk of serious or fatal injury is virtually the same.
• NZ law requires drivers and passengers in cars and other motor vehicles to wear seat belts and child restraints.
• In the last five years, over 300 people who died in NZ crashes were not wearing their seat belt.
• Many of these people would still be alive today if they were safely wearing their seat belt.
(Source NZTA, MOT, NZ Police)
