Children & Motor Vehicle Safety Quick Facts
Deaths and Injuries
- From 1999-2002, there were 226 deaths and 1,404 injuries to children 14 and under in NC due to Motor Vehicle crashes in NC (Injuries to NC Children and the Role of Safe Kids, 2003 Report).
- According the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children of every age from 3-14 years old in the US.
- Every day in the US, an average of 6 children age 14 and younger were killed and 673 were injured in motor vehicle crashes during 2004.
- The Mecklenburg County Child Fatality Team reported motor vehicle (child) deaths tripled from 3 deaths in 2003 to 9 deaths in 2004.
- In 2004, an estimated 451 children under age 5 were saved as a result of child restraint use. An estimated 7,472 lives were saved by child restraints from 1975-2004.
How Injuries Occur
- Riding unrestrained is the single greatest risk factor for death and injury among child motor vehicle occupants. Among children ages 14 and under killed in motor vehicle crashes as occupants in 2002, 50 percent were not using safety restraints at the time of the collision.
- Misuse is common. An estimated 85 percent of children who are placed in child safety seats and booster seats are improperly restrained. Misuse includes, but is not limited to, using an inappropriate seat for a child's age and size, placing an infant under 1 year or under 20 pounds in a forward-facing seat, not securing the seat tightly in the vehicle and not securing the child correctly in the seat.
- The back seat is safest. It is estimated that children ages 12 and under are up to 36 percent less likely to die in a crash if they are in a rear seat of a passenger vehicle.
Who Is at Risk
- Inappropriately restrained children are nearly 3 ½ times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash than their appropriately restrained counterparts.
- Children ages 5 and under are most likely to be improperly restrained in a vehicle.
Health Care Costs and Savings
- Every dollar spent on a child restraint saves society $35.
- The annual costs of motor vehicle occupant-related death and injury exceeds 30 billion for all children ages 14 and under.
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