SHENANDOAH, Pa. — Stephen Souders is the inventor of the Cut N Go, a seatbelt cutter that he says gives users a second chance at life.
"I met more and more people, and I heard some of the horrible stories that they went through and the lives that they lost," he said.
After talking to friends who were firefighters, Souders realized that crashes are something first responders deal with nearly every day.
"You're automatically trapped, and unfortunately, too many people in those incidents trade their car handles in for coffin handles," he explained.
"Now, currently in the United States, you have 15,913 crashes per day," said R.J. Klinger, retired firefighter/EMT.
"A lot of people don't realized when your car gets disabled, a lot of times you only have 30 seconds to get yourself out of a very dangerous situation," Souders said.
Souders spent five years designing the Cut N Go; it attaches to your seatbelt and can be used as an escape tool when needed.
"With this device, you're not putting anybody at risk. You can't cut yourself; you can't cut your clothes," Klinger explained. "If something happens and my five-year-old son is the one that's conscious, he can get out and possibly get me and my wife conscious. He could get himself out the car and call for help."
Souders is currently selling the Cut N Go online.
But he is working to raise money to get the device into the hands of emergency crews in the Schuylkill County area.
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