Occupant protection discussed in this fact sheet includes seat belts, car seats for those 4 and younger, and frontal air bags in passenger vehicles (passenger cars, pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs). Vehicle occupants are both drivers and passengers. In this fact sheet, the 2016 information on passenger vehicle occupant protection is presented as follows: * Overview * Occupant demographics * Age * Gender * Seating position * Passenger vehicle types * Restraint use and benefits * Seat belts * Frontal air bags * Child restraints * State belt use * Restraint use laws * References. This fact sheet contains information on fatal motor vehicle crashes and fatalities based on data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS is a census of fatal crashes in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico is not included in U.S. totals). It also contains data from the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) and observed belt use rate survey data obtained from individual States. Both sets of surveys are based on the observation of driver and front-seat passenger seat belt use as it occurs in traffic, and are not crash data. (Author/publisher)
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