Introduction
Restraint devices such as seat belts are a key element of motor vehicle occupant protection systems. Analyses presented in the occupant protection program area include fatal and serious injuries where a driver or passenger in a passenger vehicle was unrestrained. Occupant protection crashes in this web page are defined as crashes where one or more occupants in a passenger vehicle was unrestrained Under this program area, there are additional analyses that address child passenger safety.
Each year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducts the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) that measures, among many variables, the daytime use of seat belts by occupants aged eight and older.