Fatality Facts 2008

Children

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Overview | Age and gender | Restraint use | When they died

Child deaths in motor vehicle crashes have declined since 1975, but crashes still cause about 1 of every 3 injury deaths among children younger than 13,¹ and are the leading cause of death. Most crash deaths occur among children traveling as passenger vehicle occupants, and proper restraint use can reduce these fatalities. Placing children 12 and younger in rear seats instead of front seats reduces fatal injury risk by about a third.²

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have child safety seat laws on the books. However, even though more children now ride restrained because of these laws, many children, particularly those 4 and older, still ride unrestrained.³ Sixteen states have laws requiring children to sit in the rear, but there is considerable variation among the laws based on the child's age, height, and weight, and if the vehicle has airbags.

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Overview

A total of 1,045 children died in motor vehicle crashes in 2008. This is an 18 percent decline from 2008 and a 71 percent decline from 1975. The percentage of child deaths who were male declined from 62 percent in 1975 to 58 percent in 2008.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by gender, 1975-2008
Year	Male		Female		Total*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	2,275	62	1,368	38	3,643
1976	2,095	61	1,328	39	3,424
1977	1,996	60	1,350	40	3,347
1978	2,021	60	1,344	40	3,367
1979	1,934	61	1,237	39	3,171
1980	1,864	61	1,183	39	3,048
1981	1,668	61	1,064	39	2,733
1982	1,530	59	1,042	40	2,573
1983	1,579	63	939	37	2,518
1984	1,484	61	937	39	2,422
1985	1,464	59	1,005	41	2,469
1986	1,560	61	972	38	2,537
1987	1,635	62	1,019	38	2,654
1988	1,610	60	1,088	40	2,701
1989	1,567	59	1,090	41	2,658
1990	1,366	59	966	41	2,332
1991	1,346	60	909	40	2,257
1992	1,311	61	851	39	2,165
1993	1,230	57	932	43	2,164
1994	1,343	58	956	42	2,301
1995	1,271	58	924	42	2,201
1996	1,245	57	941	43	2,186
1997	1,170	56	935	44	2,108
1998	1,181	58	848	42	2,032
1999	1,136	57	861	43	1,997
2000	1,071	57	817	43	1,888
2001	996	57	755	43	1,751
2002	937	58	678	42	1,617
2003	934	57	709	43	1,643
2004	902	55	743	45	1,645
2005	839	55	688	45	1,529
2006	757	53	673	47	1,430
2007	687	54	582	46	1,269
2008	608	58	435	42	1,045
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Children younger than 13 represented 17 percent of the US population in 2008 and 3 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.

Population and motor vehicle crash deaths by age, 2008
Age	Population		Motor vehicle crash deaths
	Num	%	Num	%
< 13	52,929,779	17	1,045	3
All others	251,129,945	83	36,216	97
Total	304,059,724	100	37,261	100

Sixty-seven percent of child motor vehicle crash deaths in 2008 were passenger vehicle occupants, 21 percent were pedestrians, and 5 percent were bicyclists. Child pedestrian and bicyclist deaths each declined by 87 percent since 1975. Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths in 2008 were 50 percent lower than in 1975.

Motor vehicle deaths among children younger than 13 by type, 1975-2008

 

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by type, 1975-2008
Year	Passenger vehicle occupants		Pedestrians		Bicyclists		Total*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	1,384	38	1,632	45	446	12	3,643
1976	1,343	39	1,522	44	394	12	3,424
1977	1,405	42	1,390	42	395	12	3,347
1978	1,395	41	1,419	42	387	11	3,367
1979	1,331	42	1,291	41	362	11	3,171
1980	1,331	44	1,183	39	346	11	3,048
1981	1,189	44	1,064	39	332	12	2,733
1982	1,158	45	986	38	265	10	2,573
1983	1,134	45	944	37	298	12	2,518
1984	1,081	45	935	39	253	10	2,422
1985	1,131	46	925	37	278	11	2,469
1986	1,188	47	913	36	293	12	2,537
1987	1,312	49	898	34	297	11	2,654
1988	1,354	50	905	34	284	11	2,701
1989	1,469	55	786	30	276	10	2,658
1990	1,268	54	768	33	185	8	2,332
1991	1,234	55	695	31	226	10	2,257
1992	1,233	57	635	29	215	10	2,165
1993	1,221	56	644	30	203	9	2,164
1994	1,344	58	659	29	205	9	2,301
1995	1,339	61	597	27	197	9	2,201
1996	1,346	62	570	26	164	8	2,186
1997	1,330	63	513	24	172	8	2,108
1998	1,333	66	464	23	152	7	2,032
1999	1,311	66	449	22	141	7	1,997
2000	1,264	67	403	21	136	7	1,888
2001	1,179	67	363	21	98	6	1,751
2002	1,131	70	317	20	92	6	1,617
2003	1,114	68	327	20	93	6	1,643
2004	1,173	71	293	18	82	5	1,645
2005	1,077	70	274	18	79	5	1,529
2006	1,013	71	267	19	76	5	1,430
2007	905	71	243	19	57	4	1,269
2008	697	67	216	21	57	5	1,045
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

In 2008, passenger vehicle occupants accounted for the largest percentage of motor vehicle crash deaths for all children through age 12. Pedestrian fatalities accounted for 4 percent of crash deaths for children under 1 year, 29 percent for ages 1 to 3, 20 percent for ages 4 to 8, and 19 percent for ages 9 to 12. Older children, ages 9 to 12 years, had the largest relative percentage of bicycle, all-terrain vehicle, and motorcycle fatalities, with 10 percent, 4 percent, and 2 percent, respectively.

Child motor vehicle crash deaths by type and age, 2008
	Passenger vehicle occupants		Motorcyclists		Pedestrians		Bicyclists		All-terrain vehicle riders		Other		Total motor vehicle deaths*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
< 1	77	92	0	0	3	4	0	0	0	0	4	5	84
1-3	163	66	0	0	72	29	2	1	2	1	8	3	247
4-8	269	68	0	0	80	20	22	6	8	2	15	4	394
9-12	188	59	8	2	61	19	33	10	14	4	16	5	320
Total*	697	67	8	1	216	21	57	5	24	2	43	4	1,045
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

The rate of motor vehicle crash deaths per million children younger than 13 has decreased 75 percent overall since 1975. The death rate for passenger vehicle child occupants decreased 56 percent, while the death rates for child pedestrians and bicyclists declined by 88 percent and 89 percent, respectively.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per million children younger than 13 by type, 1975-2008
Year	Population	Passenger vehicle occupants		Pedestrians		Bicyclists		Total*
		Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate
1975	45,851,304	1,384	30.2	1,632	35.6	446	9.7	3,643	79.5
1976	45,000,704	1,343	29.8	1,522	33.8	394	8.8	3,424	76.1
1977	44,337,332	1,405	31.7	1,390	31.4	395	8.9	3,347	75.5
1978	43,907,467	1,395	31.8	1,419	32.3	387	8.8	3,367	76.7
1979	43,778,959	1,331	30.4	1,291	29.5	362	8.3	3,171	72.4
1980	43,914,342	1,331	30.3	1,183	26.9	346	7.9	3,048	69.4
1981	44,049,940	1,189	27.0	1,064	24.2	332	7.5	2,733	62.0
1982	44,131,596	1,158	26.2	986	22.3	265	6.0	2,573	58.3
1983	44,119,297	1,134	25.7	944	21.4	298	6.8	2,518	57.1
1984	43,978,044	1,081	24.6	935	21.3	253	5.8	2,422	55.1
1985	44,260,136	1,131	25.6	925	20.9	278	6.3	2,469	55.8
1986	44,755,454	1,188	26.5	913	20.4	293	6.5	2,537	56.7
1987	45,348,247	1,312	28.9	898	19.8	297	6.5	2,654	58.5
1988	45,942,966	1,354	29.5	905	19.7	284	6.2	2,701	58.8
1989	46,690,604	1,469	31.5	786	16.8	276	5.9	2,658	56.9
1990	47,472,527	1,268	26.7	768	16.2	185	3.9	2,332	49.1
1991	48,240,747	1,234	25.6	695	14.4	226	4.7	2,257	46.8
1992	48,903,668	1,233	25.2	635	13.0	215	4.4	2,165	44.3
1993	49,335,864	1,221	24.7	644	13.1	203	4.1	2,164	43.9
1994	49,692,462	1,344	27.0	659	13.3	205	4.1	2,301	46.3
1995	49,920,484	1,339	26.8	597	12.0	197	3.9	2,201	44.1
1996	50,085,188	1,346	26.9	570	11.4	164	3.3	2,186	43.6
1997	50,364,983	1,330	26.4	513	10.2	172	3.4	2,108	41.9
1998	50,527,476	1,333	26.4	464	9.2	152	3.0	2,032	40.2
1999	50,667,139	1,311	25.9	449	8.9	141	2.8	1,997	39.4
2000	52,219,423	1,264	24.2	403	7.7	136	2.6	1,888	36.2
2001	52,341,395	1,179	22.5	363	6.9	98	1.9	1,751	33.5
2002	52,332,306	1,131	21.6	317	6.1	92	1.8	1,617	30.9
2003	52,187,602	1,114	21.3	327	6.3	93	1.8	1,643	31.5
2004	52,151,406	1,173	22.5	293	5.6	82	1.6	1,645	31.5
2005	52,149,395	1,077	20.7	274	5.3	79	1.5	1,529	29.3
2006	52,306,908	1,013	19.4	267	5.1	76	1.5	1,430	27.3
2007	52,585,809	905	17.2	243	4.6	57	1.1	1,269	24.1
2008	52,929,779	697	13.2	216	4.1	57	1.1	1,045	19.7
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

It is recommended that children 12 and younger ride in vehicle rear seats. Nineteen percent of the passenger vehicle child occupant deaths in 2008 occurred in front seats, down from 46 percent in 1975. Seventy-three percent were in the rear, and the rest occurred in cargo or unknown areas.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths among children younger than 13 by seating position, 1975-2008
Year	Front seat		Rear seat		Cargo/unknown area		Total
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	634	46	367	27	383	28	1,384
1976	563	42	423	31	357	27	1,343
1977	654	47	383	27	368	26	1,405
1978	676	48	394	28	325	23	1,395
1979	635	48	394	30	302	23	1,331
1980	661	50	374	28	296	22	1,331
1981	547	46	406	34	236	20	1,189
1982	570	49	421	36	167	14	1,158
1983	548	48	420	37	166	15	1,134
1984	523	48	394	36	164	15	1,081
1985	515	46	428	38	188	17	1,131
1986	550	46	486	41	152	13	1,188
1987	582	44	571	44	159	12	1,312
1988	604	45	575	42	175	13	1,354
1989	637	43	655	45	177	12	1,469
1990	542	43	548	43	178	14	1,268
1991	538	44	558	45	138	11	1,234
1992	514	42	602	49	117	9	1,233
1993	509	42	613	50	99	8	1,221
1994	543	40	631	47	170	13	1,344
1995	558	42	627	47	154	12	1,339
1996	558	41	654	49	134	10	1,346
1997	493	37	692	52	145	11	1,330
1998	463	35	729	55	141	11	1,333
1999	438	33	744	57	129	10	1,311
2000	382	30	752	59	130	10	1,264
2001	368	31	707	60	104	9	1,179
2002	326	29	693	61	112	10	1,131
2003	300	27	716	64	98	9	1,114
2004	292	25	793	68	88	8	1,173
2005	272	25	710	66	95	9	1,077
2006	214	21	731	72	68	7	1,013
2007	171	19	673	74	61	7	905
2008	131	19	511	73	55	8	697

 

Age and gender

In 1975 infants (under 1 year) had a much higher passenger vehicle occupant fatality rate per capita than children of other ages, but by 2008 the age gap had narrowed considerably. Since 1975, fatality rates dropped 70 percent for infants, 69 percent for children ages 1-3, 48 percent for children ages 4-8, and 46 percent for children ages 9-12.

Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths per million children by age, 1975-2008

 

Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths per million children by age, 1975-2008
Year	< 1 years old			ages 1-3			ages 4-8			ages 9-12
	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate
1975	3,152,345	190	60.3	9,333,943	395	42.3	17,579,867	451	25.7	15,785,149	348	22.0
1976	3,115,391	173	55.5	9,166,175	393	42.9	17,444,438	436	25.0	15,274,700	341	22.3
1977	3,278,804	188	57.3	9,129,735	412	45.1	17,194,329	459	26.7	14,734,464	346	23.5
1978	3,326,388	192	57.7	9,317,815	406	43.6	16,838,903	455	27.0	14,424,361	342	23.7
1979	3,426,309	171	49.9	9,461,992	384	40.6	16,465,482	473	28.7	14,425,176	303	21.0
1980	3,559,861	190	53.4	9,763,803	396	40.6	15,994,363	403	25.2	14,596,315	342	23.4
1981	3,607,455	172	47.7	10,011,438	332	33.2	15,894,690	401	25.2	14,536,357	284	19.5
1982	3,643,586	164	45.0	10,287,129	352	34.2	15,997,832	365	22.8	14,203,049	277	19.5
1983	3,649,198	157	43.0	10,499,379	353	33.6	16,268,975	372	22.9	13,701,745	252	18.4
1984	3,571,921	132	37.0	10,605,208	301	28.4	16,592,564	377	22.7	13,208,351	271	20.5
1985	3,678,657	130	35.3	10,594,540	326	30.8	17,015,987	385	22.6	12,970,952	290	22.4
1986	3,699,568	130	35.1	10,653,722	360	33.8	17,338,168	409	23.6	13,063,996	289	22.1
1987	3,703,294	160	43.2	10,725,924	387	36.1	17,651,459	467	26.5	13,267,570	298	22.5
1988	3,756,541	183	48.7	10,882,631	385	35.4	17,801,235	484	27.2	13,502,559	302	22.4
1989	3,858,435	183	47.4	10,981,085	402	36.6	17,938,226	526	29.3	13,912,858	358	25.7
1990	3,987,662	162	40.6	11,168,053	343	30.7	18,082,010	447	24.7	14,234,802	316	22.2
1991	4,009,515	143	35.7	11,468,844	339	29.6	18,154,546	442	24.3	14,607,842	310	21.2
1992	3,982,857	127	31.9	11,739,325	349	29.7	18,296,744	442	24.2	14,884,742	315	21.2
1993	3,908,335	152	38.9	11,898,416	361	30.3	18,612,278	431	23.2	14,916,835	277	18.6
1994	3,854,882	160	41.5	11,821,298	379	32.1	18,958,858	486	25.6	15,057,424	319	21.2
1995	3,813,169	153	40.1	11,668,778	346	29.7	19,309,487	484	25.1	15,129,050	356	23.5
1996	3,769,544	178	47.2	11,499,426	346	30.1	19,610,009	486	24.8	15,206,209	336	22.1
1997	3,779,543	133	35.2	11,371,094	327	28.8	19,788,553	502	25.4	15,425,793	368	23.9
1998	3,790,645	138	36.4	11,301,476	304	26.9	19,814,280	512	25.8	15,621,075	379	24.3
1999	3,819,903	142	37.2	11,269,665	310	27.5	19,629,729	497	25.3	15,947,842	362	22.7
2000	3,867,754	131	33.9	11,425,866	311	27.2	20,146,324	458	22.7	16,779,479	364	21.7
2001	4,025,873	106	26.3	11,497,211	290	25.2	19,875,164	450	22.6	16,943,147	333	19.7
2002	3,984,989	107	26.9	11,733,679	272	23.2	19,662,203	405	20.6	16,951,435	347	20.5
2003	4,033,482	120	29.8	11,922,039	265	22.2	19,522,343	401	20.5	16,709,738	328	19.6
2004	4,077,188	121	29.7	12,086,916	301	24.9	19,473,829	406	20.8	16,513,473	345	20.9
2005	4,106,627	119	29.0	12,135,517	247	20.4	19,614,024	417	21.3	16,293,227	294	18.0
2006	4,130,153	115	27.8	12,265,881	247	20.1	19,809,458	375	18.9	16,101,416	276	17.1
2007	4,257,020	96	22.6	12,403,983	225	18.1	20,011,375	335	16.7	15,913,431	249	15.6
2008	4,313,132	77	17.9	12,568,765	163	13.0	20,289,522	269	13.3	15,758,360	188	11.9

The rate of motor vehicle crash deaths per million children in 2008 was 34 percent higher for males than for females.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per million children younger than 13 by gender, 2008
Gender	Number of children	Deaths	Rate
Male	27,071,742	608	22.5
Female	25,858,037	435	16.8
Total*	52,929,779	1,045	19.7
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Fifty-eight percent of children younger than 13 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2008 were male. The gender difference in fatalities was greater among child bicyclists (68 percent males, 32 percent females) than among child pedestrians (62 percent males, 37 percent females). The smallest gender difference in fatalities was among child occupants of passenger vehicles (55 percent males, 45 percent females).

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by type and gender, 2008
	Male		Female		Total*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Passenger vehicle occupants	383	55	314	45	697
Pedestrians	135	62	80	37	216
Bicyclists	39	68	18	32	57
Total*	608	58	435	42	1,045
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Restraint use

The proportion of fatally injured children who are restrained has risen greatly during the past 23 years, from 15 percent in 1985 to 50 percent in 2008. Note, however, that these percentages are not estimates of restraint use among all children involved in potentially fatal crashes. For example, if restraint use among fatally injured 9-12 year olds (47 percent) is properly recorded, and if restraints are 45 percent effective in preventing fatalities, then restraint use among 9-12 year olds in such severe crashes is estimated to be 62 percent. In 2008, the percentage of fatally injured children who were in child safety seats was 58 percent for infants, 42 percent for ages 1-3, and 18 percent for ages 4-8.

Restraint use among fatally injured children in passenger vehicles by age, 1985
Age	Unrestrained		Seat belt		Child safety seat		Total restrained		Unknown		Total
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
< 1 years old	85	65	2	2	29	22	31	24	14	11	130
ages 1-3	230	71	18	6	55	17	73	22	23	7	326
ages 4-8	267	69	41	11	7	2	48	12	70	18	385
ages 9-12	223	77	21	7	0	0	21	7	46	16	290
Total	805	71	82	7	91	8	173	15	153	14	1,131

Restraint use among fatally injured children in passenger vehicles by age, 2008
Age	Unrestrained		Seat belt		Child safety seat		Total restrained		Unknown		Other		Total
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
< 1 years old	18	23	4	5	45	58	49	64	2	3	8	10	77
ages 1-3	56	34	14	9	69	42	83	51	13	8	11	7	163
ages 4-8	105	39	80	30	49	18	129	48	24	9	11	4	269
ages 9-12	88	47	85	45	4	2	89	47	11	6	0	0	188
Total	267	38	183	26	167	24	350	50	50	7	30	4	697

When they died

The proportion of children killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2008 was larger on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, compared with other days of the week.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by day of week, 2008
Day of week	Deaths	%
Sunday	174	17
Monday	133	13
Tuesday	117	11
Wednesday	114	11
Thursday	135	13
Friday	189	18
Saturday	183	18
Total	1,045	100

Twenty-four percent of the deaths of children in motor vehicle crashes in 2008 occurred during 3-6 pm.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by time of day, 2008
Time of day	Number	%
Midnight-3am	48	5
3am-6am	32	3
6am-9am	102	10
9am-noon	111	11
Noon-3pm	160	15
3pm-6pm	246	24
6pm-9pm	227	22
9pm-midnight	116	11
Total*	1,045	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

The proportion of children killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2008 was greatest during the months of May, June and July.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by month, 2008
Month	Number	%
January	73	7
February	69	7
March	83	8
April	76	7
May	107	10
June	112	11
July	101	10
August	89	9
September	82	8
October	88	8
November	91	9
December	74	7
Total	1,045	100

References

¹National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 2006. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html.

²Braver, E.R.; Whitfield, R.A.; and Ferguson, S.A. 1998. Seating positions and children's risk of dying in motor vehicle crashes. Injury Prevention 4:181-87.

³National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2009. Child restraint use in 2008 – demographic results. Traffic Safety Facts, Research Note. Report no. DOT HS-811-148. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation.