Created: 4/13/2009 6:00:43 PM 
ST PETERSBURG, FL -- Crisis teams were on hand this morning to help students at Seminole High School and Largo High School cope with their loss. Four students died, and one is critically injured, after a fiery crash over the weekend. Four of the students did not wear their seatbelts.
Driver's Ed instructor Jim Mewha reminds his students of the odds against them if they don't buckle up and are in a car crash.
"Your chances of survival, if ejected out of a car, is 25%," he says.
"This gives you a wakeup call. A big wakeup call," says 10th grader Emily Beggins. "You can make a quick decision that leads to a bad choice."
Yet, despite the lessons at school and home, Mewha says the number one killer of teens between 16 and 19 years old is a car. He recommends increasing the learner's permit age from 15 to 16. "Unfortunately, you can't teach maturity," he says.
Tenth graders Emily Beggins and Alex Lovallo say they've been raised to buckle up. "It saves countless numbers of lives. "It seems foolish not to spend the few seconds to click it down," says Alex.
But what does it take to teach teens a lesson they'll remember and use? Psychologist Dr. Joseph Saturley says parents need to lead the way.
"Modeling first," he says. "If parents always put on their seatbelt, and you're always required to put on your seatbelt in the car, you're more apt to put it on yourself when you're driving."
Saturley says teens need straight talk. "Driving it home with serious talk. The scare tactic doesn't always work. Sitting down with your child, opening a line of communication, is the most effective way with teenagers."
He says don't forget laying down some rules. "Know where your kids are at all times up until 18. You have control over them. You need to know where they are, when they're leaving, when they're arriving, what their route is going to be and who they are with."
And, when teens ask why all the questions? "'Cause I need to know to try and keep you safe," says Saturley.
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