Virginia State Police Remind Teens To BUCKLE UP!

New July 1 Seatbelt Law Focuses on 16 & 17-year-old Passenger Safety

As of July 1, 2010, in Virginia:

Children from birth through seven years of age must be safely secured in a child safety restraint (to include booster seats).

Those passengers between the ages of eight and 17 must wear a seat belt while riding in the backseat and front seat of a vehicle.

Existing law requires everyone sitting in the front seat of a vehicle to be buckled up.

"We lose far too many young people in traffic crashes on Virginia’s highways because they fail to use a seat belt," said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. "Too many teens think they are invincible; yet no one is a match for what can happen when unbuckled and involved in a motor vehicle collision. The few seconds it takes to buckle up could save your life on the road."

In 2009, 51 young people between the ages of 15 and 20 were killed in traffic crashes statewide. None of them was buckled up.* The death rate was slightly higher in 2008 when 72 unrestrained teens and young adults between 15 and 20 years of age lost their lives in traffic crashes.*

Throughout the summer months, Virginia State Police will be concentrating on occupant restraint violations through enforcement and education as part of the Click It or Ticket campaign. Statistics show that with the proper use of seat belts, drivers and passengers are 40 percent less likely to be fatally injured during a traffic crash.*

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Source: Virginia Highway Safety Office, DMV