It is well understood among those who study them that car accidents are the No. 1 cause of death among teenagers in America. Not disease, murder or suicide – but car crashes.

A teenager is more likely than an older driver to die in a car crash because of the younger driver’s inexperience and because they don’t expect it to happen. Kathy Bernstein, senior director of the Teen Driving Initiative for the National Safety Council, attributes it to “an invincibility complex” that grows from not yet having a fully developed brain, according to a recent Chicago Tribune article.

One dangerous byproduct of teens’ sense of invincibility is that many don’t wear seat belts. This failure to buckle up coupled with their inexperience at the wheel is a blueprint for tragedy.

Majority of Teens Killed in Crashes Were Unbelted

In 2012, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2,846 teenage and 20-year-old drivers and passengers died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. In more than half of these fatal crashes, the teenager who died wasn’t buckled up.

The data break out like this:

• Ages 13 to 15 – 260 deaths: 59 percent not wearing seat belts; 41 percent wearing seat belts.
• Ages 16 to 20 – 2,586 deaths: 60 percent not wearing seatbelts; 40 percent wearing seat belts.

The proportions have been relatively unchanged over the last decade, NHTSA says.

A 2014 Safe Kids study found that 1-in-4 teenagers said they don’t use a seat belt every single time they ride with a teen driver and there’s no adult in the car. Roughly 84 percent of teens said they think other teens don’t use a seat belt for every ride.

But, when they are used, seat belts can reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passengers by 45 percent and the risk of moderate- to-critical injury by 50 percent, NHTSA says.

‘Sorry, I Forgot to Put on My Seatbelt’

The top reason teens gave for not buckling up? They forgot. Or it wasn’t a habit.

NHTSA also says 63 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants age 21 to 24 who were killed in traffic crashes were not using restraints – the highest percentage out of all age groups. So we can see that the bad habits of teenage drivers don’t change overnight.

Inexperience, Not Risk-Taking Explains Many Teen Crashes

The National Safety Council (NSC) says a teen driver’s risk of being in a crash is three times that of more experienced drivers. The most dangerous time of a teen driver’s life is the first 12 months of independent licensure, when teens drive on their own with a full-privilege driver’s license.

A 16-year-old driver is twice as likely to get into a car crash as an 18- or 19-year-old driver, the NSC says.

The NSC says teens crash most often because they are inexperienced – not because they necessarily take more risks than other drivers.

Experience is how drivers learn to recognize and react to hazards, drive in inclement weather, drive at night and properly gauge gaps in traffic. Teens do not have enough behind-the-wheel experience to do any of those things with ease, the NSC says.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says young drivers tend to overestimate their own driving abilities and, at the same time, underestimate the dangers on the road.

The solution? Practice.

How to Make Teen Drivers Safer

Parents should spend more time coaching their teens as they drive with learner’s permits and graduated licenses. Parents should also model safe behavior for their teens and younger children. A study found 80 percent of teens cite their parents as having the most influence over their driving habits, the NSC says.

“Keeping teens safe in cars starts long before they are ready to drive or ride with friends,” the Safe Kids study authors say. They suggest:

• Using a seat belt every time you get into the car, starting when kids are young, to make it a habit. (Remember, not wearing a seat belt is against the law, regardless of age in 49 states. In New Hampshire, drivers and passengers under 18 must wear seat belts.)
• Modeling safe behavior by wearing seat belts, obeying speed limits, not talking or texting on cellphones while driving and otherwise obeying the rules of the road.
• Talking to teens and younger children about how to speak up if they are in a car with a driver of any age who is not driving safely.