Fatality and Injury Trends Among Child Front-Seat Passenger Vehicle Occupants 12 and Younger

Starting in 1995, many child safety campaigns have encouraged parents, caregivers, and drivers to move children 12 and younger from the front seat to the back seat of vehicles. The focus of this document is on children 12 and younger seated in the front row in passenger vehicles (cars, vans, pickups, and SUVs) and the effect of these child safety campaigns. The analysis is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) as well as the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES). Trend data from fatalities and injuries indicate the child safety campaigns (laws, enforcement, and publicity campaigns) have worked in moving the children to the back seat. The data indicate a continuous declining trend in fatalities among children 12 and younger in the front seat of passenger vehicles between 1996 and 2006 – from 554 to 209 fatalities, a decline of 62 percent. Nationwide, the fatality ratio for children 12 and younger in the front seat in passenger vehicles in crashes has shrunk over the past 11 years – from 41 percent to 21 percent. The number and ratio of children age 12 and younger injured in the front seat in passenger vehicles in crashes have also declined between 1996 and 2006. Further details are provided in this Research Note.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/nhtsa_static_file_downloader.jsp?file=/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/NCSA/Content/RNotes/2008/811030.pdf
• 
• Publication Date: 2008-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 5p
• Serial:
  • Traffic Safety Facts - Research Note
  • Issue Number: HS-811 030
  • Publisher: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Children; Crash injuries; Fatalities; Front seat occupants; Safety campaigns; Trend (Statistics)
• Identifier Terms: Fatality Analysis Reporting System; General Estimates System; National Automotive Sampling System
• Subject Areas: Highways; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01112651
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-811 030
• Files: HSL, TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 9 2008 4:16PM