Feds to parents: Make teen passengers buckle up

The Obama administration is pushing parents to encourage their teenage children to buckle their seat belts when they are riding with them as passengers, even at the risk of the warning coming off as nagging.

“When she was a baby, you put her in a car seat. In a few years, you’ll insist she buckle up when behind the wheel,” National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) chief Mark Rosekind wrote Friday in a blog post on the Transportation Department’s website. 

“Today, however, she’s a tween; she’s tired of hearing mom and dad nag her about wearing her seat belt,” Rosekind continued. “And you’re a little tired of saying it. But this is the fight worth having. Your tween’s life is at stake.” 

{mosads}Rosekind, who was recently confirmed for the Highway Safety Administration post, said the agency is launching a new campaign called “Never Give Up Until They Buckle Up” to remind parents of the importance of emphasizing seat belt safety in the years before teenagers get behind the wheel on their own. 

“Never Give Up Until They Buckle Up engages parents to ensure that children and young people ages 8-14 consistently and properly wear their seat belt every time the car is moving,” Rosekind wrote. “As our new ads tell parents: ‘You’re the driver. The one in control. Stand firm. Just wait. And move only when you hear the click that says they’re buckled in for the drive.’ ” 

Rosekind said the public awareness campaign “is urgently needed because — as many parents can attest — seat belt use often falls by the wayside during the hectic shuttling of kids to and from school and activities, when running short errands, or when parents are a bit worn down by the daily grind.”

“A recent series of NHTSA focus groups found these among the reasons for failing to ensure that tweens are wearing seat belts,” the highway safety chief wrote. 

“And of course, tweens will test limits. It’s how they learn and grow,” Rosekind continued. “That’s why it’s so critical that they absorb the message now: the car doesn’t move until everyone in the vehicle is buckled up. After a while, it won’t be a fight; it will be second nature, a lifesaving lesson that they’ll carry with them always.”