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

Protecting Child Passengers, Now and Into the Future

The first law protecting child passengers in motor vehicles was passed by Tennessee 41 years ago. Since that time, much has been learned about best practices and countermeasures that work to reduce death and injury among children on our roadways. While legislation, education, enforcement and technology have all been employed to prevent injuries, motor vehicle injuries remain a leading cause of death among US children. (1)

CSN Webinar
Mar 27 2019

Traumatic Brain Injury among Children and Youth: Understanding TBI and One Model State Program

Reports of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) among adults, particularly in professional sports, are often in the news. But what about TBIs among children and youth? In 2012, an estimated 329,290 children (age 19 or younger) were treated in emergency departments (EDs) for sports and recreation-related injuries that included a diagnosis of concussion or TBI. From 2001 to 2012, the rate of ED visits for sports and recreation-related injuries with a diagnosis of concussion or TBI, alone or in combination with other injuries, more than doubled among children (age 19 or younger).

CSN Webinar
Feb 21 2019

Keeping Children 8-14 Years Old Safe as Motor Vehicle Occupants

In 2015, 146 U. S. children ages 8-14 died as motor vehicle occupants. (1) This webinar will focus on children ages 8-14 and their use (or nonuse) of vehicle restraints. Many educators find this audience hard to reach and, in fact, child passenger safety and teen driver safety programs often miss this group of vulnerable children. Learn how injury prevention programs can blend data, research, and strategies from several sources to address the unmet needs of motor vehicle occupants ages 8-14.

CSN Webinar
Dec 06 2017

New CSN Resources on the Costs of Childhood Injuries

Release Date: 
2017-11-28 00:00:00

In 2015, injuries caused 13,363 deaths in U.S. children and adolescents aged 0-19. In addition, injuries were responsible for 200,225 hospitalizations and almost 7.7 million emergency department (ED) visits in this population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], WISQARS, 2017). One important way to understand the burden of childhood injuries is by looking at the costs of those injuries.

Topics: 
Drowning Prevention
Falls
Fire Burn Safety
General Multiple Causes
Motor Vehicle
Child Passenger Safety
Teen Driving Safety
Poison Prevention
Sports Safety
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Self Harm
Substance Abuse
Prescription Drug Misuse Abuse
Underage Drinking Illicit Drug Abuse
Suicide Prevention
Traffic Injuries
Violence
Child Maltreatment
FamilyIntimate Partner Violence
Teen Dating Violence
Youth Violence Prevention
Tue, 11/28/2017 - 12:39pm

The Medical Costs of Childhood Injuries: Deaths

In 2015, the total medical costs of injury-related deaths of children age 19 and younger was $153.2 million. This infographic breaks out the medical cost of child deaths by injury topic.

Download a PDF of the infographic for printing

This is part of a series on the costs of childhood injuries.

Additional infographics on the medical costs of childhood injuries:

Resource Type: 
CSN Infographic
Topics: 
Drowning Prevention
Falls
Fire Burn Safety
General Multiple Causes
Bike Safety
Child Passenger Safety
Teen Driving Safety
Poison Prevention
Sports Safety
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Self Harm
Substance Abuse
Prescription Drug Misuse Abuse
Underage Drinking Illicit Drug Abuse
Suicide Prevention
Traffic Injuries
Violence
Child Maltreatment
FamilyIntimate Partner Violence
Teen Dating Violence
Youth Violence Prevention
Tue, 11/28/2017 - 12:09pm

The Medical Costs of Childhood Injuries: Hospitalizations

In 2015, the total medical costs of injury-related hospitalizations of children age 19 and younger was $6.6 billion. This infographic breaks out the medical cost of hospitalizations of children by injury topic.

Download a PDF of the infographic for printing

This is part of a series on the costs of childhood injuries.

Resource Type: 
CSN Infographic
Topics: 
Drowning Prevention
Falls
Fire Burn Safety
Motor Vehicle
Child Passenger Safety
Poison Prevention
Sports Safety
Self Harm
Substance Abuse
Suicide Prevention
Traffic Injuries
Child Maltreatment
FamilyIntimate Partner Violence
Teen Dating Violence
Youth Violence Prevention
Mon, 11/27/2017 - 5:31pm

Costs of Leading Childhood Injuries Fact Sheet

This fact sheet covers the costs of childhood injuries, including medical costs, work loss costs, and quality of life loss costs. Work loss costs include lost wages of injured persons and lost household work, or, in the case of fatality, lost earnings and household work over the victim’s expected remaining lifespan in the absence of premature death.

Resource Type: 
CSN Publications
Topics: 
Drowning Prevention
Falls
Fire Burn Safety
General Multiple Causes
Child Passenger Safety
Teen Driving Safety
Poison Prevention
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Self Harm
Substance Abuse
Suicide Prevention
Violence
Child Maltreatment
FamilyIntimate Partner Violence
Teen Dating Violence
Youth Violence Prevention
Wed, 07/12/2017 - 2:42pm

Evidence-Based Strategies and Readings in Five Injury Topics

This publication lists evidence-based strategies and readings on child passenger safety, falls prevention, interpersonal violence prevention, suicide and self-harm prevention, and teen driver safety.

Resource Type: 
CSN Publications
Topics: 
Falls
Child Passenger Safety
Teen Driving Safety
Playground Safety
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Suicide Prevention
Child Maltreatment
FamilyIntimate Partner Violence
Teen Dating Violence
Youth Violence Prevention
Thu, 06/29/2017 - 1:50pm

Stories of Innovation: Collecting Real-Time Outcomes Data for Injury Prevention

Participants in the Child Safety Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network (CS CoIIN) are identifying and developing innovative ways to collect real-time outcomes data. Typically, data on injury-related deaths, hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits are centrally collected at the state level. On an annual basis, these data are cleaned by the state, released, and submitted to a national dataset. The cleaning and release process leads to a two-year or more delay in the availability of the data.

Resource Type: 
CSN Publications
Topics: 
Falls
Child Passenger Safety
Sports Safety
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Suicide Prevention
Child Maltreatment
FamilyIntimate Partner Violence
Teen Dating Violence
Youth Violence Prevention

Pages

Plugins for File Formats - need a plugin to view PDF, PPT or DOC files?. You will find corresponding links on this page.

Back to Top