HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Buckle up, whether you’re a driver, front passenger or in the back seat.

That’s the message that safety officials are stressing this summer as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launches a new rear seatbelt safety campaign.

“We know people are at greater risk of being hurt or killed in a crash if they’re not wearing a seat belt,” Garrett Eucalitto, the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said.

In Connecticut, rear seat passengers are 25 times more likely to be killed in a crash if they’re not wearing a seat belt.

“If you are not buckled up, you become a projectile in that vehicle,” Eucalitto said.

Tracy Noble wasn’t wearing a seat belt when she was in a crash on her way to school in 1991. She took the brunt of the crash, which broke her pelvis.

“I was playing field hockey and cheerleading, two things that abruptly came to an end in my high school career,” said Noble, who is now with the AAA Clubs of Connecticut.

Nearly 60% of back seat passengers killed in 2020 weren’t wearing a seat belt, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.