Three Reasons Some Teens Don’t Wear Seat Belts and What You Can Do About it

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It is hard to imagine the grief of losing a child in a Louisville car accident. It is harder still to imagine living the rest of your life knowing that your child might have survived the accident on I-71, the Gene Snyder Freeway, or another Louisville road if only she had buckled her seat belt.

Why Teens Make This Fatal Mistake

If you want to make sure that your child buckles up every single time she gets in a car, then you need to understand the reasons why teens fail to put on seat belts. A recent survey by Safe Kids Worldwide found that:

  • About 25 percent of teens do not use a seat belt every time they drive or ride in a car.
  • Around 34 percent of teens who do not always wear a seat belt claim that they forget or that it is not a habit for them to buckle up.
  • About 16 percent of teens who do not always wear a seat belt claim they didn’t wear it because they weren’t driving far.
  • Around 11 percent of teens who do not always wear a seat belt claim they didn’t wear it because it was uncomfortable.

Now that you know why many teens fail to wear seat belts you can take action to make sure that your child always wears a seat belt. For example, you can:

  • Require that seat belts are always worn by everyone in your car, every single time the car is moving. Buckling up should be a habit that your child has and sees modeled well before she gets her driver’s license. There should be no exceptions to the rule based on distance or other factors.
  • If your child resists wearing a seat belt ask her why it is uncomfortable. It may be positioned wrong or you may be able to make safe adjustments that take away the discomfort and solve the problem.

Additionally, you can explain to your child what happens in an accident when a person is not wearing a seat belt.

Do you have friends or relatives with teens? Please share this blog post with them and let them know the reasons why some teens fail to wear seat belts, so that they can take the necessary steps to protect their kids.