Child Passenger Safety
Child Passenger Safety
Child Passenger Safety

Definition: Child passenger safety requires consistent use of correctly installed safety seats, booster seats, or seat belts that are appropriate for a child's size and age.
Magnitude of the Problem:
- Motor vehicles crashes are the leading cause of death among children, according to the CDC.
- An average of 4 children, ages 14 and under, were killed, and 529 were injured every day in motor vehicle crashes, in 2008 (NHTSA)
- According to Safe Kids:
- 31% of the passenger deaths for children under the age of 4 and 42% of passenger deaths for children ages 4-7 were not restrained in 2009. Child safety seats and belts can reduce fatal injury by up to 71% for infants and 54% for children ages 1-4.
- Approximately 1,900 children ages 0-14 die in motor vehicle-related accidents every year since 2000.
Prevention: Strategies to improve child passenger safety include:
- child safety seat laws, which have been adopted by all states and which have reduced fatal injuries to children by 35% and all injuries to children by 17%
- child safety seat distribution and education
- community-wide information and enhanced enforcement campaigns
- incentive and education programs that provide rewards to parents or children for the purchase and proper use of child safety seats
- safety seat education that is provided by health care professionals in clinical settings
CSN Publications
- Costs of Leading Childhood Injuries Fact Sheet Nov 2017
- Evidence-Based Strategies and Readings in Five Injury Topics Jul 2017
- Stories of Innovation: Collecting Real-Time Outcomes Data for Injury Prevention Jun 2017
- Injury Prevention: What Works? A Summary of Cost-outcome Analysis for Injury Prevention Programs (2014) Nov 2014
- Childhood Injury: Cost and Prevention Facts - Child Safety Seats: How large are the benefits and who should pay? Mar 2009
CSN Resource Guide
CSN Infographics
CSN Webinars
- Protecting Child Passengers, Now and Into the Future Mar 2019
- Traumatic Brain Injury among Children and Youth: Understanding TBI and One Model State Program Feb 2019
- Keeping Children 8-14 Years Old Safe as Motor Vehicle Occupants Dec 2017
- Distracted Driving among Teens: What We Know about It and How to Prevent It May 2017
- South to Southwest S2SW Webinar Georgia's Child Passenger Safety Laws Jul 2012
CSN Blogs
- New CSN Resources on the Costs of Childhood Injuries Nov 2017
- Why Car Seats Matter Sep 2014
Injury Prevention Links
- AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
- Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
- Child Restraint Systems Interactive Map | LawAtlas
- Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety/Highway Loss Data Institute
- Kids and Cars
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
- Parent Central: A NHTSA Website
- Safe Kids USA
- SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)