A new study on teen driving habits and safety found that 59 percent of teens always buckled up in the driver seat but only 42 percent always wore seat belts as passengers. However, only 38 percent of all teens in the study reported always buckling up as both drivers and passengers.
“Because seat belts can reduce the risk of injury and death in crashes by more than 50 percent, there is a critical need for interventions to increase seat belt use by teens as both drivers and passengers,” said Nathaniel Briggs, MD, MSc, lead researcher on the study, published in the September 2008 issue of theAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for nearly 5,000 fatalities each year. About 40 percent of all teen motor vehicle occupant deaths involve passengers.
Additionally, the researchers pointed out a need for targeted interventions that address those teen subpopulations least likely to wear seat belts regardless of whether they are drivers or passengers, including young men, African Americans, students experiencing academic difficulties, and those with a history of either drinking and driving or riding with a drinking driver.
To address the issue, Briggs and his colleagues recommend a combination of approaches.
— Upgrade state seat belt laws to uniformly require that teen motor vehicle occupants in the rear seat be secured in seat belts. Currently, the majority of state laws are limited to front seat coverage for some or all teens in the 16-19 age group.
— Upgrade state seat belt laws from “secondary” (law enforcement officers can ticket motorists for seat belt law violations only after stopping them for another offense) to “primary” (law enforcement officers can stop and ticket motorists solely for seat belt law violations).
— Enhance enforcement efforts directed toward teen motorists.
— Develop comprehensive, community-based interventions including education, peer-to-peer persuasion, and parental monitoring.
Source: Meharry-State Farm Alliance