South Carolina's roads have long been some of the deadliest in the nation. But a recent trend concerning teenagers has state public safety officials alarmed.

The teen fatality rate from car wrecks is already up 22 percent over last year. But what's most disturbing is that from October 1st to the 19th, 15 teens have died in car wrecks. During that same time period last year the number was 5. That's a 200 percent increase.

"We are extremely concerned by the number of teens who have died in motor vehicle collisions this year, particularly in the past couple of weeks," said Department of Public Safety Director James Schweitzer.

He says parents and teachers need to help law enforcement officers to save lives. "We have to approach this as a team effort and make talking to teens about safe driving priority one," Schweitzer said.

Of the 15 teens killed this month, 13 were not wearing a seatbelt.

17-year-old Rachel Hursey of Irmo knows how important seatbelts can be. In August, she was driving in Myrtle Beach on vacation. A car hit her from the side, pushing her into oncoming traffic that hit her head on. She suffered a broken wrist, an ankle broken in three places, a gashed knee and bruises.

She says her seatbelt was the difference. "If I didn't have it on, I would not be here today," she says. "I'd probably have gone through the windshield and been gone."

Of the teens killed this month, 8 have been in Richland County. And five of those were thrown out of their cars because they weren't buckled up.

Part of the problem, police say, is the state's seatbelt law. It says that police can pull over drivers 17 and younger that they can see aren't buckled up. But they can't pull over drivers 18 and older unless they've committed some other violation.

Troopers and police ask, how are they supposed to tell just by looking--at a moving vehicle--whether a driver is 17 or 18?

Highway Patrol commander Col. Russell Roark says, "It's really not so much about the law as it is personal choice. It's a personal choice for someone to wear it or not to wear it. Also, in my view, is parental responsibility, particularly for younger people, to ensure that your children wear it. If you start them from a young age, they'll pick that habit up."

The Highway Patrol started a program earlier this year that sends safety officers into schools to teach teens about highway safety and enforcement. They show teens graphic footage of real accidents, to show them what can happen when they don't buckle up.

It's a lesson Carol Kiparisus is part of. She's one of the mothers in the video who lost a child in a car wreck.

Her son, John Gregory, Jr., died last year after his car ran off the road and flipped. He was not wearing a seatbelt. She doesn't know for sure whether being buckled up would have saved her son, but she knows seatbelts will save other lives.

"It has been the worst time of my life," she says. "This past year has just been horrible. It's a struggle each day to move, to get up and start going. He was my only child, so I won't be called 'Mom' again."

The Highway Patrol's teen driving program is called "Final Exam", and includes a pledge that teen drivers can take to drive safely and always buckle up. You can find out more at its website, www.schp.org/finalexam/.