Wichita ? About half the 770 young Kansans who died in car crashes between 1990 and 2001 probably would have been spared if their seat belts had been fastened, experts say.

An analysis of Kansas Department of Transportation records by the Wichita Eagle showed teenagers were far more likely to die in car crashes than any other group. When wearing seat belts, though, they were at no greater risk than anyone else.

But getting them to do so is another matter, says a longtime driving instructor who believes peer pressure is to blame.

“It’s hard for teenagers to stand up and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to have to put our seat belts on,”‘ said Bill Kennedy, who operates driving schools in Lawrence, Topeka and Wichita.

Kennedy said he reminded his students that in a wreck, an unbelted backseat passenger is “going to be projected right into the back of your head.”

The Kansas Highway Patrol has advocated a tougher seat-belt law that would allow officers to stop and cite motorists for seat-belt violations. Under current state law, people 14 and older are required to wear a belt if they are in the front seat, but officers can only stop or cite someone for a seat-belt violation if they see another violation, such as speeding.

Scott Geller, a Virginia Tech psychology professor who studies attitudes about safety, said widely accepted research suggested that half of the 770 young Kansans would have lived if they had worn seat belts.

Geller said reshaping teens’ attitudes was difficult but not impossible.

“We’ve got to scare people,” Geller said. “You don’t do it with statistics. You give them a case study … personalize it. People respond to individual stories. People can imagine themselves in the same situation.”