The 2009 survey of child restraint use, conducted in 14 Texas cities, revealed that 86.4 percent of the 13,575 children observed were restrained in a child safety seat or vehicle safety belt in some manner. Of those who were observed restrained in some manner, observers identified 20 percent in child safety seats used or installed incorrectly, and an additional 7.6 percent using a vehicle belt system incorrectly. The remaining 13.6 percent of the child passengers observed were not restrained at all, with 133 riding in the lap of another occupant.
In 2009 the nighttime survey was expanded to include the 10 Texas cities which are also the focus of the daytime survey evaluation of the Click It Or Ticket mobilization.
Belt use varied across cities, ranging from a low of 68.5 percent for drivers in Lubbock in April to a high of 94.4 percent for drivers in El Paso in June.
In daytime surveys, passenger belt use typically averages lower than driver belt use. These 30 observation periods revealed a higher passenger rate than driver rate at the city level seven times.