Children

Table of Contents

Overview

Deaths of children younger than 13 in motor vehicle crashes have declined since 1975, but crashes still cause 1 of every 4 unintentional injury deaths. Most crash deaths occur among children traveling as passenger vehicle occupants, and proper restraint use can reduce these fatalities. Restraining children in rear seats instead of front seats reduces fatal injury risk by about three-quarters for children up to age 3, and almost half for children ages 4 to 8.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have child restraint 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. Nineteen 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, weight and whether the vehicle has frontal airbags. The District of Columbia and all states except Oklahoma require all child occupants younger than 13, including those sitting in the rear, to be restrained.

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

Posted December 2019.

Trends

Seventy-three percent of child motor vehicle crash deaths in 2018 were passenger vehicle occupants, 18 percent were pedestrians, and 3 percent were bicyclists. Child pedestrian and bicyclist deaths declined by 90 and 94 percent, respectively, since 1975. Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths in 2018 were 54 percent lower than in 1975.

Motor vehicle deaths among children younger than 13 by type, 1975-2018

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by type, 1975-2018
Year	Passenger vehicle occupants		Pedestrians		Bicyclists		Total*
Year	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
1975	1,384	38	1,632	45	446	12	3,643	100
1976	1,343	39	1,522	44	394	12	3,424	100
1977	1,405	42	1,390	42	395	12	3,347	100
1978	1,395	41	1,419	42	387	11	3,367	100
1979	1,331	42	1,291	41	362	11	3,171	100
1980	1,331	44	1,183	39	346	11	3,048	100
1981	1,189	44	1,064	39	332	12	2,733	100
1982	1,158	45	986	38	265	10	2,573	100
1983	1,134	45	944	37	298	12	2,518	100
1984	1,081	45	935	39	253	10	2,422	100
1985	1,131	46	925	37	278	11	2,469	100
1986	1,188	47	913	36	293	12	2,537	100
1987	1,312	49	898	34	297	11	2,654	100
1988	1,354	50	905	34	284	11	2,701	100
1989	1,469	55	786	30	276	10	2,658	100
1990	1,268	54	768	33	185	8	2,332	100
1991	1,234	55	695	31	226	10	2,257	100
1992	1,233	57	635	29	215	10	2,165	100
1993	1,221	56	644	30	203	9	2,164	100
1994	1,344	58	659	29	205	9	2,301	100
1995	1,339	61	597	27	197	9	2,201	100
1996	1,346	62	570	26	164	8	2,186	100
1997	1,330	63	513	24	172	8	2,108	100
1998	1,333	66	464	23	152	7	2,032	100
1999	1,311	66	449	22	141	7	1,997	100
2000	1,264	67	403	21	136	7	1,888	100
2001	1,179	67	363	21	98	6	1,751	100
2002	1,131	70	317	20	92	6	1,617	100
2003	1,114	68	327	20	93	6	1,643	100
2004	1,173	71	293	18	82	5	1,645	100
2005	1,077	70	274	18	79	5	1,529	100
2006	1,013	71	267	19	76	5	1,430	100
2007	905	71	243	19	57	4	1,269	100
2008	699	67	215	21	57	5	1,047	100
2009	756	71	201	19	52	5	1,066	100
2010	653	68	212	22	36	4	962	100
2011	656	72	169	19	39	4	908	100
2012	641	67	208	22	39	4	958	100
2013	640	68	208	22	35	4	940	100
2014	604	69	167	19	39	4	875	100
2015	668	71	187	20	31	3	946	100
2016	730	71	198	19	35	3	1,033	100
2017	684	72	173	18	31	3	949	100
2018	639	73	157	18	26	3	880	100

The rate of motor vehicle crash deaths per million children younger than 13 has decreased 79 percent overall since 1975. The rate at which children die as passenger vehicle occupants decreased 60 percent, while the rates at which they were killed as pedestrians and bicyclists declined by 92 and 95 percent, respectively.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per million children younger than 13 by type, 1975-2018
Year	Population	Passenger vehicle occupants		Pedestrians		Bicyclists		Total*
Year	Population	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	699	13.2	215	4.1	57	1.1	1,047	19.8
2009	53,753,412	756	14.1	201	3.7	52	1.0	1,066	19.8
2010	52,943,218	653	12.3	212	4.0	36	<1	962	18.2
2011	52,950,108	656	12.4	169	3.2	39	<1	908	17.1
2012	52,872,572	641	12.1	208	3.9	39	<1	958	18.1
2013	52,723,720	640	12.1	208	3.9	35	<1	940	17.8
2014	52,666,129	604	11.5	167	3.2	39	<1	875	16.6
2015	52,747,095	668	12.7	187	3.5	31	<1	946	17.9
2016	52,767,670	730	13.8	198	3.8	35	<1	1,033	19.6
2017	52,738,932	684	13.0	173	3.3	31	<1	949	18.0
2018	52,561,486	639	12.2	157	3.0	26	<1	880	16.7

It is recommended that children 12 and younger ride in the rear seats of vehicles. Thirteen percent of the passenger vehicle child occupant deaths in 2018 occurred in front seats, down from 46 percent in 1975, while 80 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, 1975-2018
Year	Front seat		Rear seat		Cargo/unknown area		Total
Year	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
1975	634	46	367	27	383	28	1,384	100
1976	563	42	423	31	357	27	1,343	100
1977	654	47	383	27	368	26	1,405	100
1978	676	48	394	28	325	23	1,395	100
1979	635	48	394	30	302	23	1,331	100
1980	661	50	374	28	296	22	1,331	100
1981	547	46	406	34	236	20	1,189	100
1982	570	49	421	36	167	14	1,158	100
1983	548	48	420	37	166	15	1,134	100
1984	523	48	394	36	164	15	1,081	100
1985	515	46	428	38	188	17	1,131	100
1986	550	46	486	41	152	13	1,188	100
1987	582	44	571	44	159	12	1,312	100
1988	604	45	575	42	175	13	1,354	100
1989	637	43	655	45	177	12	1,469	100
1990	542	43	548	43	178	14	1,268	100
1991	538	44	558	45	138	11	1,234	100
1992	514	42	602	49	117	9	1,233	100
1993	509	42	613	50	99	8	1,221	100
1994	543	40	631	47	170	13	1,344	100
1995	558	42	627	47	154	12	1,339	100
1996	558	41	654	49	134	10	1,346	100
1997	493	37	692	52	145	11	1,330	100
1998	463	35	729	55	141	11	1,333	100
1999	438	33	744	57	129	10	1,311	100
2000	382	30	752	59	130	10	1,264	100
2001	368	31	707	60	104	9	1,179	100
2002	326	29	693	61	112	10	1,131	100
2003	300	27	716	64	98	9	1,114	100
2004	292	25	793	68	88	8	1,173	100
2005	272	25	710	66	95	9	1,077	100
2006	214	21	731	72	68	7	1,013	100
2007	171	19	673	74	61	7	905	100
2008	131	19	512	73	56	8	699	100
2009	138	18	546	72	72	10	756	100
2010	110	17	494	76	49	8	653	100
2011	118	18	486	74	52	8	656	100
2012	90	14	501	78	50	8	641	100
2013	97	15	484	76	59	9	640	100
2014	92	15	465	77	47	8	604	100
2015	86	13	532	80	50	7	668	100
2016	100	14	554	76	76	10	730	100
2017	80	12	551	81	53	8	684	100
2018	86	13	510	80	43	7	639	100

Children younger than 13 represented 16 percent of the U.S. population in 2018 and 2 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.

U.S. population and motor vehicle crash deaths by age, 2018
Age	Population		Motor vehicle crash deaths
Age	Number	%	Number	%
<13	52,561,486	16	880	2
All others	274,605,948	84	35,680	98
Total	327,167,434	100	36,560	100

Age and gender

In 1975 infants (younger than 1) had a much higher passenger vehicle occupant fatality rate per capita than children of other ages, but this gap narrowed over the years. Since 1975 fatality rates dropped 75 percent for infants, 68 percent for children ages 1-3, 54 percent for children ages 4-8, and 50 percent for children ages 9-12.

Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths per million children by age, 1975-2018

Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths per million children by age, 1975-2018
Year	<1 year			1-3 years			4-8 years			9-12 years
Year	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	78	18.1	12,568,765	163	13.0	20,289,522	269	13.3	15,758,360	189	12.0
2009	4,261,494	69	16.2	12,857,476	180	14.0	20,780,673	288	13.9	15,853,769	219	13.8
2010	3,944,153	59	15.0	12,194,039	178	14.6	20,263,474	256	12.6	16,541,552	160	9.7
2011	3,996,537	59	14.8	12,043,067	157	13.0	20,421,665	252	12.3	16,488,839	188	11.4
2012	3,943,077	54	13.7	11,943,920	191	16.0	20,523,946	237	11.5	16,461,629	159	9.7
2013	3,941,783	49	12.4	11,934,615	162	13.6	20,458,936	250	12.2	16,388,386	179	10.9
2014	3,948,350	47	11.9	11,925,085	135	11.3	20,416,182	249	12.2	16,376,512	173	10.6
2015	3,978,038	50	12.6	11,909,208	173	14.5	20,373,647	256	12.6	16,486,202	189	11.5
2016	3,955,377	63	15.9	11,976,334	178	14.9	20,238,765	284	14.0	16,597,194	205	12.4
2017	3,939,295	76	19.3	12,003,782	173	14.4	20,127,850	249	12.4	16,668,005	186	11.2
2018	3,848,208	59	15.3	11,940,899	160	13.4	20,161,532	238	11.8	16,610,847	182	11.0

In 2018, passenger vehicle occupants accounted for the majority of motor vehicle crash deaths for all age groups of children. Pedestrian fatalities accounted for 10 percent of crash deaths for children younger than 1, 22 percent for ages 1-3, 16 percent for ages 4-8, and 19 percent for ages 9-12. Children ages 4-8 and 9-12 had a larger percentage (4 percent) of bicycle fatalities than younger children. Children ages 4-8 had the largest percentage (3 percent) of all-terrain vehicle fatalities.

Child motor vehicle crash deaths by type and age, 2018
Age	Passenger vehicle occupants		Motorcyclists		Pedestrians		Bicyclists		All-terrain vehicle riders		Other		Total motor vehicle deaths*
Age	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
<1	59	88	0	0	7	10	0	0	0	0	1	1	67	100
1-3	160	73	1	0	49	22	3	1	0	0	6	3	219	100
4-8	238	73	1	0	51	16	12	4	9	3	13	4	324	100
9-12	182	67	3	1	50	19	11	4	6	2	18	7	270	100
Total*	639	73	5	1	157	18	26	3	15	2	38	4	880	100

The rate of motor vehicle crash deaths per million children in 2018 was 3 percent higher for males than for females.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per million children younger than 13 by gender, 2018
Gender	Number of children	Deaths	Rate
Male	26,859,496	456	17.0
Female	25,701,990	424	16.5
Total*	52,561,486	880	16.7

Fifty-two percent of children younger than 13 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2018 were male. The gender difference in fatalities was greater among child bicyclists (69 percent males, 31 percent females) than among child pedestrians (59 percent males, 41 percent females). More females (51 percent) than males (49 percent) were killed as occupants of passenger vehicles.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by type and gender, 2018
	Male		Female		Total*
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Passenger vehicle occupants	312	49	327	51	639	100
Pedestrians	93	59	64	41	157	100
Bicyclists	18	69	8	31	26	100
Total*	456	52	424	48	880	100

Restraint use

The proportion of fatally injured children who are restrained has risen greatly during the past 33 years, from 15 percent in 1985 to 60 percent in 2018. According to a national observational survey, restraint use among children younger than 13 years was 90.1 percent in 2017.Unrestrained vehicle occupants are more likely than restrained occupants to be fatally injured in a crash, so restraint use is much lower among fatally injured occupants.

Restraint use among fatally injured children in passenger vehicles by age, 1985
Age	Unrestrained		Seat belt		Child safety seat		Total restrained		Unknown		Total
Age	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
<1	85	65	2	2	29	22	31	24	14	11	130	100
1-3	230	71	18	6	55	17	73	22	23	7	326	100
4-8	267	69	41	11	7	2	48	12	70	18	385	100
9-12	223	77	21	7	0	0	21	7	46	16	290	100
Total	805	71	82	7	91	8	173	15	153	14	1,131	100

Restraint use among fatally injured children in passenger vehicles by age, 2018
Age	Unrestrained		Seat belt		Child safety seat		Total restrained		Unknown		Total
Age	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
<1	9	15	0	0	45	76	45	76	5	8	59	100
1-3	38	24	10	6	99	62	109	68	13	8	160	100
4-8	68	29	63	26	79	33	142	60	28	12	238	100
9-12	78	43	85	47	2	1	87	48	17	9	182	100
Total	193	30	158	25	225	35	383	60	63	10	639	100

When they died

More children were killed in motor vehicle crashes on Saturdays in 2018 (17 percent) than on any other day of the week.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by day of week, 2018
Day of week	Deaths	%
Sunday	142	16
Monday	123	14
Tuesday	117	13
Wednesday	103	12
Thursday	106	12
Friday	143	16
Saturday	146	17
Total	880	100

Twenty-four percent of the deaths of children in motor vehicle crashes in 2018 occurred between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. and 20 percent occurred between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by time of day, 2018
Time of day	Number	%
Midnight – 3 a.m.	55	6
3 a.m. – 6 a.m.	25	3
6 a.m. – 9 a.m.	102	12
9 a.m. – noon	86	10
Noon – 3 p.m.	137	16
3 p.m. – 6 p.m.	207	24
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.	178	20
9 p.m. – midnight	87	10
Total*	880	100

The proportion of children killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2018 was greater during the months of May, June and July (10 percent each month) compared with other months of the year.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13 by month, 2018
Month	Number	%
January	60	7
February	60	7
March	67	8
April	80	9
May	87	10
June	92	10
July	86	10
August	74	8
September	70	8
October	72	8
November	59	7
December	73	8
Total	880	100

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