SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Teen drivers and passengers are among the least likely groups to buckle up, so New Mexico law enforcement agencies will be focusing on teenagers with a seat belt enforcement campaign this week.
Law enforcement agencies in Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Lea, McKinley, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties are participating.
They say upcoming prom and graduation celebrations make the seat belt enforcement campaign especially timely.
Some 76 percent of passengers ages 16 to 20 killed in New Mexico vehicle crashes in 2008 were not wearing seat belts. That's an increase of 11 percent from 2007.
Officials say nearly half of those killed would have survived had they been wearing seat belts.
New Mexico's Click It or Ticket campaign says traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.
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