Facts About Children and Youth

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for every age from 3 to 33.¹⁰ Although the fatality rate has decreased, the total number of child occupant deaths is still high. This is due to population increases (children up to age 14 represented about 21 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2003 American Community Survey) and a near doubling, over the past 20 years, of the number of miles Americans travel on our roadways.

Facts About Restraint Use

• In 2003, the use of child restraints saved the lives of an estimated 446 children age 4 and under.
  
  
• During 2003, a total of 1,794 children from birth to age 15 were killed in passenger vehicle crashes. About 54 percent of passenger vehicle occupants in this age group were unrestrained. The breakdown by age group is:
  
  
  • 35 percent of children from birth to 4 were unrestrained;
  • 55 percent of children 5 to 9 were unrestrained, and
  • 68 percent of children 10 to 15 were unrestrained.
    
    
• Of the 471 occupant fatalities among children from birth to age 4 in 2003, more than 30 percent were unrestrained.
  
  
• If 100 percent of motor vehicle occupants younger than age 5 had been protected by child safety seats, an estimated 550 lives (an additional 106 more lives than already were saved) could have been saved in 2003.
  
  
• From 1975 through 2003, an estimated 7,020 lives of children age 4 and under were saved by the use of occupant restraints (this includes child safety seats and safety belts).

Chart 6 shows data on the use and nonuse of occupant restraints among those killed in passenger vehicle crashes in 2003. In most age groups except the youngest (4 and under) and the oldest (65 and older) the majority of occupants who were killed were not restrained. Unfortunately, being properly restrained cannot prevent all passengers from being fatally injured, especially in certain high-impact crashes. However, a certain and higher percentage of occupants in all age groups would not have been killed had they been properly restrained.

There is a significant decrease in restraint use among the 5-to-9, 10-to-15, and 16-to-20 age groups (when compared to the 4 and under age group). This decrease illustrates the critical need for public information and education about the importance of restraint use, along with the need for ongoing enforcement of existing laws.

When viewing the chart, keep in mind that even with the use of occupant restraints:

• Some crashes are so severe that occupants do not survive even when properly protected by a child safety seat, booster seat, or safety belt.
  
  
• There are instances in which the effectiveness of a child restraint or safety belt is compromised by incorrect use, such as improper installation or use of a child safety seat, or placing a child in an adult belt.
  
  
• Occupants in the youngest age group, 4 and under, and oldest age group, 65 and older, are more fragile. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to death or serious injury during a crash.
  
  
• In many States, there is no law requiring the use of appropriate occupant restraints (booster seats) for children who have outgrown their child safety seats but who do not yet fit properly in adult belt systems. As a result, many young children are inappropriately placed in adult belts.

Chart 6 Occupant Fatalities in 2003
By Age and Restraint Use, in Passenger Vehicles

Facts About Motor-Vehicle-Related Deaths and Injuries

Based on the 10-year period between 1994 and 2003, an average of 1,983 children from birth to age 15 died and 294,000 were injured in passenger vehicle crashes each year.

• In 2003, an average of almost 5 children (4.92 children) from birth to 15 were killed and 663 were injured every day in motor vehicle crashes.
  
  
• In 2003, a total of 1,794 children 15 and younger were killed and 242,000 were injured in passenger vehicle crashes. Nine percent of the injured occupants had incapacitating injuries.
  
  
• In 2003, there were 471 crash fatalities and 59,000 injured among children 4 and under.
  
  
• In 2003, there were 1,323 crash fatalities and 183,000 occupants injured among children 5 to 15.

Chart 7 highlights facts about injury severity. In 2003, more than 80,000 children, youth, and young adults from birth to 20 suffered incapacitating injuries in passenger vehicle crashes.

Chart 7 Occupants Injured in Passenger Vehicles 2003
By Age and Injury Severity

Note: Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding.

¹⁰ Subramanian, R. Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes as Leading Cause of Death in the United States , 2001. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT 809 695, December 2003.