Method for determining the use of a
vehicle safety belt (4) comprising a
webbing (5), a tongue (6) held on the
webbing (5), and a buckle (7), and assigned to a seat (3) of a vehicle, wherein a sensor device (8) of the buckle (7) detects a
closed state of the buckle (8) resulting from the
insertion of an element into the buckle (7), characterized in that: - by means of an electronic computing device (9), a second time interval (Z2) is determined within a first time interval (Z1) extending from a first time point (t1), at which the
closed state of the buckle (7) beginning at the first time point (t1) is detected by the sensor device (8), to a second time point (t2), at which a first event is detected, during which the
closed state of the buckle (7) is continuously detected by the sensor device (8).which extends from a third time point (t3) between the first time point (t1) and the second time point (t2), at which a second event is recorded, up to the second time point (t2); - the first event includes the opening of a vehicle door; - the second event includes the unoccupancy of the seat (3); - the second time period (Z2) is compared with a threshold value by means of the electronic computing device (9); and - a feigned use of the
seat belt (4) is determined by means of the electronic computing device (9) if the comparison of the second time period (Z2) with the threshold value determines that the second time period (Z2) exceeds the threshold value.