WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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68 pct. of young drivers killed at night unbuckled
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-20 23:08 Safety officials say they are emphasizing seat belt use by young people between 16 and 20 during this year's "Click It or Ticket" publicity campaign through June 1. Police say they will be issuing tickets to motorists who fail to wear their seat belts, a message that will be supported by a $7.5 million advertising campaign. Gabriela Sazon, a senior at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, is a believer from personal experience. But she also understands the problem among teenagers in general. She and her mother avoided injuries two years ago when their car flipped on its side on a rain-slicked road. Both were wearing their seat belts. Sazon said peer pressure can sometimes play a role in teens not buckling up. "They don't want to seem like a nerd around their friends," she said. Said NHTSA administrator Nicole Nason: Teenagers frequently bring a "combination of inexperience and fearlessness" when they fail to buckle up in their cars. "It's a deadly combination." Nason said the agency is urging states to adopt licensing programs for new drivers that prevent them from driving with other teenagers in the car. She said carloads of teens traveling together can create distractions for the driver and increase the safety risks. Anne McCartt, a researcher with the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, noted that seat belt use at night tends to be much lower across all age groups. Fatal crashes involving teenagers at night are more likely to involve risk factors such as alcohol, she said, so the failure to wear a seat belt "may be part of a more general atmosphere of risk-taking." |
