Ratio: Percent of Population
Definition: Percentage of front-seat passenger car occupants observed using seat belts in automobiles
* In 2011 NHTSA established new uniform criteria (23 CFR Part 1340) for observational surveys. In the transitional period, NHTSA allows the States and Territories the option to use either the old or new criteria for 2012 surveys. In 2012, twenty-seven States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands used surveys that conformed to the new uniform criteria. From 2013 and beyond all State and Territory observational surveys will be based on the new criteria.