Motor Vehicle Safety--Injury and Incidence Statistics

Injury and death rates:

  • Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under.

  • Each year, over 2,400 children under 14 years of age die in vehicle-related deaths.

  • Fifty percent of children ages 14 and under killed in motor vehicle crashes were not safely restrained.

  • The majority of the children killed by airbags in motor vehicle crashes were unrestrained or improperly restrained.

Safety restraint statistics:

  • About 73 percent of child safety seats or booster seats are improperly used.

  • 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:

  • Pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14.

  • Children ages 1 to 2 suffer the highest number of pedestrian injuries, most often when a vehicle is backing up.