Strict Laws Convince Teens to Buckle Up

States with tougher seat belt laws translate to more teens buckling up, in accordance with a brand new seat belt study conducted by The kids's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance. The study found that new teen drivers who live in states with secondary enforcement seat belt laws are less more likely to buckle up than teens driving in primary enforcement states.

What's the adaptation? Law officials in primary enforcement states can stop and cite a driver solely for not wearing a seat belt. Cops in secondary enforcement states can only issue a seat belt ticket after pulling over the motorist for an additional offense. In keeping with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are 32 primary enforcement states.

The study polled 3,126 highschool students around the nation and located that 82% regularly wear their seat belts while driving and 69% wear a seat belt as a passenger. In primary enforcement states, the study found that teen drivers are 12% likely to buckle up and teenage passengers 15% much more likely than those in secondary enforcement states.

Research also showed that teens living in rural areas, African-American teens, those driving pickup trucks, students with low grades and people living in lower socioeconomic areas are less more likely to buckle up.

According to the study's authors, car crashes remain the leading explanation for death among teens within the U.S. "Teen crashes are complex events with multiple factors contributing to them. However, the most important reason teens die in these crashes is failure to buckle up. This study means that if state laws don't reinforce the significance of seat belt use, teens can be less motivated to buckle up and are placed at much higher risk of being injured or killed in a crash," said Dennis Durbin, co-scientific director of the guts for Injury Research and Prevention and co-author of the study, in a press release.

Using a seat belt reduces the danger of a fatal injury by 45%, in step with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From WhatNewsToday.net

Posted in: