WASHINGTON -- More than two-thirds of young drivers and passengers killed in nighttime car crashes aren't wearing seat belts.

Though seat-belt use actually is rising slightly nationwide, fatality figures published yesterday offered a contrast as law enforcement launched its annual pre-Memorial Day drive to persuade Americans to buckle up.

Total belt use rose to 82 percent last year -- from 81 percent in 2006 -- the government said.

But 68 percent of drivers and passengers ages 16 to 20 who were killed in car crashes at night in 2006 were not buckled, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. During daytime, 57 percent of the young motorists and passengers who were killed were not wearing seat belts.

That portion of the study focused on 2006 data.

The problem isn't just with teenagers. The percentage of unbuckled drivers and passengers is well up in the 60s through the age of 44. It declines to 52 percent for people 55 to 64 and 41 percent for those older than that.

This year's "Click It or Ticket" publicity campaign through June 1 is supported by a $7.5 million advertising campaign.

Anne McCartt, a researcher with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, noted that seat-belt use at night tends to be much lower across all age groups.

Fatal crashes involving teenagers at night are more likely to involve risk factors such as alcohol, she said, so the failure to wear a seat belt "may be part of a more general atmosphere of risk-taking."

Preliminary Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data show 58 young drivers and passengers killed in nighttime car crashes in 2007 were not wearing safety restraints.
Staff writer Mark Bowes contributed to this report.