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Last Updated: Thursday, May 14, 1998

Background Fact Sheet

Child Passenger Safety

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death of children. (1)
• Over 2,100 children ages 0-15 die each year as occupants in motor vehicle crashes. (2)
• In the United States, an average of 8 children ages 0-14 years old were killed and 980 were injured every day in motor vehicle related crashes during 1996. (2)
• In 1996, there were 2,122 occupant fatalities among children ages 0-15. Of these 2,122 fatalities, an estimated 1,248 (or 58 percent) were totally unrestrained. (2)
• To date, 57 children have been killed by an air bag while sitting in the front seat. In all but three cases, the children were not buckled up or were improperly restrained. Thirteen were infants in rear-facing child safety seats. Infants should NEVER ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger-side air bag. (2)
• Children are 35 percent safer in the back seat -- whether the vehicle has an air bag or not. The best way to protect children from the risks that air bags may pose, as well as from other crash-related injuries, is to properly restrain children ages 12 and under in the back seat. (2)
• Child safety seats save lives. Over the period 1982 through 1996, an estimated 3,299 lives were saved by child restraints. (2)
• Among children under 5 years old, an estimated 365 lives were saved in 1996 by child restraint use. Of these 365 lives saved, 313 were associated with the use of child safety seats and 52 with the use of adult belts. (2)
• If child safety seat use for children under 5 was at 100 percent, an estimated 560 lives (that is, an additional 195) could have been saved in 1996. (2)
• Child safety seats, when properly installed, reduce the risk of death by 69 percent for infants and 47 percent for toddlers. (2)

( M O R E )

Caddo Sheriff's Office News Release -2- May 14, 1998

• According to research done by the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, nine out of ten Americans who have air bags in their vehicles say they've heard the warnings that children should ride in the back seat, but 30 percent of the people who transport a child under one year old report placing the child in the front seat of the vehicle.
• Adult seat belt use is a critical factor in child safety. According to the National Occupant Protection Use Survey: Controlled Intersection Study, indicates that when a driver is buckled, restraint use for children (0-15) is 86.9%. When a driver is unbuckled, restraint use for children (0-15) is 23.7%.1 State data echo these findings.

(1) Source: National Safety Council, Accidents Facts, 1997 Edition

(2) Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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