These high schoolers want you to buckle up.
"It means a lot to let people know that their lives do matter, and as simple as putting on your seatbelt that can save your life," Ridgevue High School student Maddie Garner.
And they're bringing the message to their school hallways for a national seatbelt awareness campaign. Seat belt ambassadors at Ridgevue are taking count of how many people pull in to school each morning or afternoon wearing their belts.
"Mostly it has just increased seatbelt usage. When we did it at Nampa High School, we increased by over 20 percent. Last year here at Ridgevue we had a 13% increase to get us up into the mid-90 percentile usage," said student resource officer Stu Hobson.
According to Nampa PD, vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 24. 65 percent of people killed in Idaho car crashes weren't wearing a seatbelt.
"The younger kids sometimes don't understand that they still have a lot of life to live and they think oh I'm going to high school I'm so grown up, but you still have a long time to go," said senior Olivia Tolman at Ridgevue High School.
These students have a message for all young drivers: no text, no song change, no distraction, is more important than taking an extra second to buckle up.
"More than that just keep yourself safe because if you have to listen to a different song than you originally were going to, is it worth risking your life?" said Tolman.
They'll submit the total number of buckled up riders to the National Organization of Youth Safety to see how they place among other schools throughout the country in December.
