Children

Traffic Safety Facts 1995

U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Child Endangerment

Pedestrians

Pedalcyclists

Restraints

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children of every age from 5 to 14 years old (based on 1992 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics).

In 1995, there were a total of 41,798 traffic fatalities in the United States. The 0-14 age group accounted for 7 percent (2,794) of those traffic fatalities. In addition, children under 15 years old accounted for 5 percent (1,804) of all vehicle occupant fatalities, 10 percent (340,000) of all the people injured in motor vehicle crashes, and 9 percent (286,000) of all the vehicle occupants injured in crashes.

In the United States, an average of 8 children 0-14 years old were killed and 932 were injured every day in motor vehicle crashes during 1995.

In the 0-14 year age group, males accounted for 58 percent of the fatalities and 51 percent of those injured in motor vehicle crashes during 1995.

Child Endangerment

In 1995, nearly 22 percent of the children under 15 years old who were killed in motor vehicle crashes were killed in alcohol-related crashes.

Of the children 0-14 years old who were killed in alcohol-related crashes during 1995, 255 were passengers in cars with drivers who had been drinking, with blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of 0.01 gram per deciliter (g/dl) or higher.

An a dditional 157 children were killed as passengers in vehicles with drivers who had not been drinking.

Another 124 children under 15 years old who were killed in traffic crashes in 1995 were pedestrians or pedalcyclists who were struck by drinking drivers (BAC 0.01 g/dl).

Pedestrians

In 1985, there were 1,041 pedestrian fatalities in the 0-14 year age group. From 1985 to 1995, the number of pedestrian fatalities in this age group decreased by 33 percent.

There were 5,585 pedestrian fatalities in 1995. The 0-14 age group accounted for 696 (12 percent) of those fatalities, and 63 percent of the pedestrian fatalities in this age group were males.

In addition to the pedestrians under 15 years old who died, 27,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes. These young pedestrians accounted for 33 percent of the total pedestrians injured in motor vehicle crashes in 1995.

One-fourth (25 percent) of the traffic fatalities in the 0-14 year age group were pedestrians.

The contributing factor most often cited in 1995 for pedestrian fatalities among children under 15 years old was "darting into road," followed by "improper crossing." During 1995, 42 percent of the young pedestrian fatalities occurred between the hours of 4 pm and 8 pm, and 83 percent occurred at non-intersection locations.

Pedalcyclists

A total of 830 pedalcyclists were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 1995. Children 0-14 years old accounted for 256 (31 percent) of those fatalities.

In 1995, 41 percent of the pedalcyclists injured in motor vehicle crashes were under 15 years old.

The 256 pedalcyclist fatalities in 1995 for the 0-14 year age group represent a decrease of 35 percent from the 396 killed in 1985.

For 82 percent of the pedalcyclists under 15 years old killed during 1995, police reported one or more factors related to the pedalcyclist's behavior. The factors most often noted were "failure to yield right of way," followed by "walking/riding with or against traffic."

Bicycle helmets are 85 to 88 percent effective in mitigating head and brain injuries, making the use of helmets the single most effective countermeasure available to reduce head injuries and fatalities resulting from bicycle crashes. (Source: Robert Thompson, A Case Control Study of the Effectiveness of Bicycle Safety Helmets. Centers for Disease Control.)

Restraints

Research has shown that lap/shoulder safety belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat occupants (age 5 years and older) of passenger cars by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent. For light truck occupants, safety belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 60 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 65 percent.

During 1995, 9,082 motor vehicle occupants under 15 years old were involved in fatal crashes. For those children, where restraint use was known, 47 percent were unrestrained; among those who were fatally injured, 65 percent were unrestrained.

Percentage Unrestrained	Age Group (years)
	0-4	5-9	10-14	15-20	All Other	Total
	37	48	56	59	45	48

Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats has found that they reduce the risk of fatal injury by 69 percent for infants (less than 1 year old) and by 47 percent for toddlers (1-4 years old).

In 1995, there were 616 occupant fatalities among children under 5 years of age. Of those 616 fatalities, an estimated 350 (57 percent) were totally unrestrained.

Type of Restraint	Infants (Under Age 1)	Toddlers (Age 1-4)	Total
None Used	98	252	350
Child Seat	52	131	183
Adult Seat Belt	2	81	83
Total	152	464	616

From 1982 through 1995, an estimated 2,934 lives were saved by the use of child restraints (child safety seats or adult belts). In 1995, an estimated 279 children under age 5 were saved as a result of child restraint use.

If 100 percent of motor vehicle occupants under 5 years old were protected by child safety seats, an estimated 532 lives (that is, an additional 253) could have been saved in 1995.

In 1994, NHTSA conducted the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS). One of the studies in the survey was the Controlled Intersection Study, which provided more detailed information about child restraint use for children under 5 years old.

Failure to read the child safety seat instructions, in addition to vehicle owner manual instructions regarding safety belts, could result in serious injury or death as a result of a failure of the child safety seat to be securely and/or properly restrained.

Children in rear-facing child seats should not be placed in the front seat of cars equipped with passenger-side air bags. The impact of a deploying air bag striking a rear-facing child seat could result in injury to the child.

All front seat passengers should wear safety belts. This is especially true for young children, who could be injured by a deploying air bag if they are in close proximity during the deployment.