According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, North Carolina is the fifth worst state for young drivers. A study from the NHTSA found that NC has the fifth most fatal car accidents involving teens 16-19 in the entire country. Part of the problem is that teens in NC are much less likely to buckle up at night than anywhere else.
In 2006, 68% of the teens who died in car crashes at night were not wearing their seat belts. During that period, 525 teens were killed in nighttime accidents. 61% of those teens were not belted in.
During the same period, South Carolina had 731 young people killed in wrecks, 70% of whom were not belted.
Officials are urging more police checkpoints, especially at night, when 20% more teens are riding around without seat belts than during the daylight hours.