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Motor Vehicle Safety--Injury and Incidence Statistics
Injury and death rates
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Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under.
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Each year, over 2,400 children ages 0 to 15 years die in vehicle-related deaths.
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Fifty percent of children ages 14 and under killed in motor vehicle crashes were not safely restrained.
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The majority of the children killed by airbags in motor vehicle crashes were unrestrained or improperly restrained.
Safety restraint statistics
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About 73 percent of child safety seats or booster seats are improperly used.
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Properly installed and used child safety seats can reduce the risk of death by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for children ages 1 to 4.
Pedestrian statistics
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Pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages five to 14.
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Children ages one to two suffer the highest number of pedestrian injuries, most often when a vehicle is backing up.
