The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety is stepping up efforts to convince young people to wear their seat belts. The Coalition has released the results of a June survey showing 61 percent of Missouri teens are buckling up. That’s a 3 percent increase over last year, but far from overall seat belt usage in Missouri of 75 percent.

The Coalition’s Outreach Coordinator, Sandy Hentges, says the push is on because statistics show we’re heading into October, a time of year when the number of traffic crashes involving teenagers is highest.

The Coalition is continuing to reach out with programs like Battle of the Belt – a high school seat belt challenge which kicked off earlier this month, an advertising campaign with the "Never Made It" theme running through mid-October, and a greater effort to install greater signs about Missouri’s seat belt law.

Of the 153 teens who were killed in traffic crashes in 2006, 73 percent were not buckled up.

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