Seat Belt Safety for Your Teen Drivers

The facts are clear – out of any demographic of drivers teens are least likely to buckle their seat belts. What makes this even more surprising is the fact they have the highest accident rate for every one hundred thousand drivers. In the United States, car crashes are the leading cause of death for fifteen to twenty year olds. Most of these deaths involve drivers and passengers who are unbuckled.

Using a seat belt is the most effective method for lowering the non-fatal and fatal injuries in car accidents. When used, seat belts lower the risk of fatal injury for front seat passengers by forty-five percent.

States have been ramping up their seat belt laws to raise awareness across the country.

Teen Focused Seat Belt Safety Laws

• 32 states currently have primary seat belt laws, including the District of Columbia, which means you can be pulled over by law enforcement for not wearing a seat belt. Fines range from $10 in Wisconsin to $120 in Connecticut.
• Seventeen states have secondary seat belt laws, meaning law enforcement can’t pull you over for not being buckled. There has to be another reason such as speeding, broken light, etc. before they can ticket you for being unbuckled. The fines can range from $10 in Arizona to $71 in Colorado.
• Some states determine a primary or secondary offense by whether the passenger is in the front or back seat.
• The only state without a seat belt law for teens is New Hampshire.

These laws have proven effective. Teens living in states with primary seat belt laws are twelve percent more likely to buckle their seat belts when driving, and fifteen percent more when riding as passengers.

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