Seat-belt use in Kentucky is about the national average but is lower in rural counties, and our traffic-death rate is high

Only two Kentucky counties, Boone and Kenton, used seat belts at the national average or above in 2012, according to the latest local data available from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing poll by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A county-level map from The Washington Post using data from 2012 shows Boone and Kenton counties in yellow, meaning their seat-belt use rate is above the 85.9 percent national average (as reported by people in the survey). A few other counties are in light orange, meaning their rate is between 80 and 85 percent: McCracken, Graves, Calloway, Marshall, Christian, Hopkins, Henderson, Daviess, Warren, Hardin, Jefferson, Oldham, Spencer, Anderson, Franklin, Scott, Fayette, Jessamine, Madison, Campbell, Pendleton and Boyd.

Because seat-belt use is more common in more heavily populated counties, outweighing lesser use in rural counties, Kentucky's statewide seat-belt use rate in 2014 was approximately the national average. However, the CDC says the state's traffic-death rate is much higher than the national average. According to the Kentucky State Police, about two-thirds of people killed in traffic accidents in the state were not using a seat belt.

Kentucky's seat-belt law requires the driver and all passengers to use seat belts, unless the passenger is a child less than 40 inches tall, in which case a child restraint system must be used. Children younger than 7 and between 40 and 50 inches must be in a booster seat, which uses a seat belt.