Police are attributing the deaths of two Ohio teenagers and the serious injury of a third in a car crash to their failure to wear seatbelts. Officers with the Ohio Highway Patrol say the car accident occured shortly after 4 a.m., when a car's 19-year-old driver lost control of her vehicle and struck a sign on the side of the Interstate 71. This caused the vehicle to overturn and slide back into the roadway, throwing two passengers from the back seat. The car rolled over one of the ejected passengers, killing him instantly. The second passenger was crushed to death when a semi-truck ran over her.

After the car overturned, it was struck by an oncoming sport utility vehicle. The driver of the flipped car sustained severe injuries and was transported to a nearby medical care facility for treatment. The third passenger of the car was also hospitalized with minor injuries. Police are currently investigating whether any of the drivers involved in the accident were intoxicated.

Police say that the back seat passengers may have survived had they been wearing safety belts. While safety belt use has been increasing in recent years, the National Safety Council says teenagers are significantly less likely to use them compared to other age groups. Data from the NSC shows that an average of 10 teenagers died in car accidents every day in 2009.

Failure to wear a seat belt is currently a secondary offense in Ohio. According to an officer with the Ohio Highway Patrol, this means that drivers must be pulled over for another offense before a citation can be issued. Additionally, wearing a seat belt in the back seat is only mandatory for individuals under the age of 16 in Ohio.

And since the law does not require backseat passengers to wear seat belts, the passengers were technically doing nothing wrong. The families of the deceased passengers may want to explore the possibility of a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver if it was found she was driving recklessly.

Source: Cincinnati.com, "I-71 wreck victims weren't wearing seat belts," David Holthaus, Jan. 14, 2012