According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, young adults are at a higher risk of vehicular injuries. This could all be due to their inexperience, immaturity or tendency to take risks. There is one particularly small but powerful thing a person can do before driving their vehicle- put on a seatbelt.

Although this may seem painfully obvious, you would be surprised to know how often people don’t wear their seatbelts. Not wearing a seatbelt is one of the leading causes of being killed in a car crash.

Just within the last five years, an average of 45.7% of drivers were killed while not wearing a seatbelt in Louisiana. Louisiana’s overall seatbelt usage rate has dropped to 85.2% resulting in an increase of injuries. For L-S-U, vehicle crashes tend to be worse at night, primarily around football season.

The lap and shoulder safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injuries to front-seat occupants by 45% and the risk of moderate to critical injuries by 50%. You can get into the habit of wearing your seatbelt by holding yourself and your friends accountable by buckling up before each drive.