Stricter Seat Belt Laws Get Teens to Buckle Up, Study Shows

MONDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) — Teen drivers and passengers are
more likely to use seat belts if they’re in states with
primary-enforcement seat belt laws, often promoted as “click it or ticket”
laws, a new study finds.

A primary law allows police to stop and ticket drivers solely for not
wearing a seat belt. Under a secondary law, police can only ticket
unbelted drivers if they are stopped for other reasons, such as
speeding.

Primary seat belt laws have been proven to reduce death rates in
traffic collisions, according to the report published in the April 19
online edition of the American Journal of Public Health.

In the new study, researchers examined data from more than 3,000 U.S.
high school student drivers who took part in the 2006 National Young
Driver Survey. The analysis revealed that teens in states with secondary
laws were 12 percent less likely to wear a seat belt when driving and 15
percent less likely to do so as a passenger than teens in states with
primary laws.

In addition, the investigators found that in states with secondary
laws, teens’ use of seat belts decreased as they progressed from learner
to unrestricted license holder. This did not occur in states with primary
laws.

The findings also revealed that blacks, rural residents, academically
challenged students and those who drove pick-up trucks had particularly
low rates of seat belt use.

“This study showed that primary-enforcement safety belt laws may play a
key role in mitigating the disparity in safety belt use among certain
teenaged subpopulation groups,” lead study author Dr. J. Felipe
Garcia-Espana, of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a journal news release.

“Because some teenaged subpopulations have lower safety belt use, even
with primary enforcement laws, combined approaches that include upgrades
to laws with campaigns and enforcement might be warranted,” the study
authors concluded.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says parents are
the key to safe teen drivers.

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