Occupant Protection
Seat belts save lives and NHTSA provides national leadership in planning and developing traffic injury control safety programs in the areas of seat belts, child car seat use, and automatic occupant protection systems (e.g., air bags).
Campaign Marketing Materials
Buckle Up America
Click It or Ticket
Child Car Seat Safety
Useful Information
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Countermeasures That Work: A Highway Safety Countermeasure guide for State Highway Safety Offices; 7th Ed., 2013
The guide is a basic reference to assist State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) in selecting effective, evidencebased countermeasures for traffic safety problem areas. - Avoiding "Tween" Tragedies: Demonstration Project to Increase Seat Belt Use Among 8- to 15-year-old Motor Vehicle Occupants - The purpose of this project was to increase seat belt use among 8- to 15-year-old motor vehicle occupants ("tweens") by using a comprehensive approach involving police-driven educational programs, earned and paid media, and enforcement of Pennsylvania’s occupant protection law.
- Summary of Vehicle Occupant Protection Laws (10th Edition) - A summary chart of the key provisions of State occupant protection laws and detailed lists of these laws in every State. Such laws include requiring the use of (1) seat belts, (2) child passenger restraint devices, and (3) motorcycle or bicycle helmets.
- The top 5 things you should know about Buckling Up
- The Pregnant Woman's Guide to Buckling Up Buckling up is the single most effective action you can take to protect yourself and your unborn child in a crash. During a crash, being buckled up helps keep you safe inside your vehicle. If you ride unbuckled, you could be thrown out of your car or collide with other passengers. Seat belts are also the best defense against impaired, aggressive, and distracted drivers. More information at Parents Central or download a pdf flyer.
- What You Need to Know About Air Bags - Air bags are called supplemental restraints because they are designed to work best in combination with seat belts.
- Issues Among Older Drivers and Passengers - This background research was followed by a series of 15 focus groups with older adults in four States. Participants discussed experiences and difficulties associated with seat belt use.
- Products for Law Enforcement Action Kit (PEAK)
- African-American Seat Belt Toolkit This toolkit provides marketing material and tools in support of your organizational efforts of increasing awareness within the African-American community of the importance of wearing seat belts.
- Using Haptic Feedback to Increase Seat Belt Use of Service Vehicle Drivers - This study tested a contingency in which unbelted drivers experienced sustained sense of touch (haptic) feedback to the gas pedal when exceeding 25mph.


