SAFETY STATISTICS 

(from the National Highway Transportation Safety Board)

Among children under age 15, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional, injury-related death. Most of these deaths result from head injuries.

Children not restrained by children's car seats or safety belts are more likely to die or suffer injury in car crashes. Studies show 88 percent of infants were safely restrained while riding in cars. However, that figure dropped to 58 percent for children ages 5 through 14.

Take these steps to prevent injuries from motor vehicles:

Highway Safety Statistics: Teenage Driving
 
  • Car crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers
  • In 1997, 5,477 young people, ages 15-20 died in car crashes.
  • 21% of young drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking.
  • Young people, age 15-20, make up 6.7% of the total driving population in this country but are involved in 14% of all fatal crashes.
  • In 1997, over 60% percent of young people, 15-20 years old, who died in car crashes were not wearing seat belts.
  • 65% of teen passenger deaths occur when another teenager was driving.
  • Nearly half of the fatal crashes involving 16 year old drivers were single car crashes.
  • 2 out of 3 teenagers killed in car crashes are male.
  Highway Safety Statistics: 15 Leading Causes of Death in the U.S. (1998)
 
Rank Causes Of Death Number Deaths per
100,000 pop.
Age-adjusted
Death Rate
1998 1997 Percent
Change
All Causes 2,329,520 865.8 473.8 485.8 -2.5%
1 Diseases of the heart 727,624 270.4 128.1 132.6 -3.4%
2 Malignant neoplasms, including neoplasms of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues 540,702 201.0 124.3 126.5 -1.7%
3 Cerebrovascular diseases 159,059 59.1 25.4 26.2 -3.0%
4 Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and allied conditions 111,823 41.6 21.3 21.4 -0.4%
5 Accidents and adverse effects 94,262 35.0 29.2 30.1 -3.0%
Motor vehicle accidents 42,693 15.9 15.4 16.1 -4.3%
All other accidents and adverse effects 51,572 19.2 13.7 14.1 -2.8%
6 Pneumonia and influenza 92,048 34.2 13.3 13.2 0.8%
7 Diabetes mellitus 63,813 23.7 13.5 13.6 -0.7%
8 Suicide 29,732 11.1 10.2 10.7 -4.7%
9 Nephritis, nephrotic, syndrome, and nephrosis 25,755 9.6 4.4 4.4 N/A
10 Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis 24,981 9.3 7.2 7.4 -2.7%
11 Septicema 22,817 8.5 4.2 4.2 N/A
12 Alzheimer's disease 22,467 8.3 2.7 2.8 -3.6%
13 Homicide and legal intervention 18,890 7.0 7.5 8.2 -8.5%
14 Atherosclerosis 15,563 5.8 2.0 2.1 -4.8%
15 Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection 13,930 5.2 4.9 7.8 -37.2%
All other causes

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