Seatbelt Laws Essay

The number one cause of adolescent deaths is due to car crashes, with adolescents being in the majority, at fault. Decades of law reform efforts have led to mandatory seatbelt laws, an increased legal drinking age, and graduated-driver-licensing systems (Hamilton, V. E. (2014). Adolescents receive their drivers’ license at a much younger age than their counterparts in other countries, making driving the greatest health threat among adolescents in the U.S. Despite decades of law reform efforts that have led to mandatory seatbelt laws, an increase in the legal drinking age, and graduated-driver-licensing systems this still doesn’t seem to be enough to reduce the percentage of fatalities caused by adolescent drivers involved in fatal car crashes

In addition, despite laws in place to restrict the use of technology, such as cell phones, while driving has not offered enough of a deterrent to stop this activity according to the Highway Loss Data Institute and the number of insurance collision claims. Even though adolescents are capable of fully understanding the risks involved in texting while driving, it doesn’t seem to be enough for them to stop engaging in this risky activity. Research has suggested another approach that seems to be more effective than ones tried in the past. Adolescents seem to respond more effectively with statistics shared that reflect the majority of their group not participating in risky behavior. In other words, opposed to focusing on the percentage of teens that engage in texting and talking on the phone while driving, there is a more positive response to campaigns focusing on the majority of adolescents that don’t participate in these activities. Studies have shown a more positive response rate with this approach, making it the most effective approach to