In the United States, while children account for 19% of the total population of the United States, children accounted for approximately 3% of over the 37,000 motor vehicle traffic fatalities, with nearly 75% of those child fatalities being vehicle occupants. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published its annual “Traffic Safety Facts” in May 2019 with some specific 2017 data on traffic crashes involving children. The child fatality rate in the United States was triple that of other high-income countries studied, with researchers partially attributing lower fatality rates in other countries to government investment in road-traffic safety, such as the Vision Zero policy in Sweden. 1 A 2016 study also found that motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death of young children and adolescents in the United States, accounting for 20% of all deaths, though the per capita death rate had reduced by approximately half from 1999 to 2016. The 2018 WHO report found that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death in children and young adults globally.
Motor vehicle crashes are still a leading cause of death of children even in high-income countries with child-restraint laws. The 2018 WHO report also cited that “despite the prevalence of motorcycles in low-income settings … only 63 countries representing 33% of the world’s population, restrict child passengers on motorcycles.” An earlier 2013 WHO report found that at the time, only 43% of middle-income countries and 30% of low-income countries even had child-restraint laws. Among countries with laws meeting best practice, just 15% are middle-income and none are low-income. A 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) report found that only 9% of the world’s population meet the overall best practice criteria for child-restraints, which includes the presence of national laws, requirements for children under the age of 10 or under 135 cm in height to use a child-restraint, age and height restrictions on riding in the front seat, and references to specifications or standards for the restraint systems themselves. Less than half of middle- and low-income countries have child-restraint laws.
Forward-facing car seat with five-point harness.Rear-facing car seat with five-point harness.
WHEREAS community services are available to parents and other caregivers to provide appropriate fitment between the child restraint system and their vehicle(s) as well as education on appropriate seatbelt fit on the child to prevent misuse,īE IT RESOLVED that parents and other caregivers use the following sequence of restraint systems based on the child’s individual development and immediately transition to the next stage after reaching the manufacturer’s recommended maximum height OR weight: WHEREAS appropriate child restraint systems based on the child’s development are effective in reducing crash fatalities and serious injuries, and WHEREAS industry standards and national and international regulations have been developed to define best practices for child restraint system performance, and WHEREAS primary enforcement of restraint laws is more effective than secondary enforcement laws in increasing restraint use and decreasing injuries, and WHEREAS most children who were killed in car crashes were unrestrained or using an inappropriate child restraint system, and WHEREAS motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children even in high-income countries that have child restraint system laws, and WHEREAS less than half of lower- and middle-income countries have child restraint system laws, and
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