I saw something very ironic on my way home from work. I was stuck at a red light behind a van with a sticker in the back window that boldly stated, "NO KIDS LEFT IN CARS!" I am assuming this was a sticker put there in response to the rash of children who die each Summer when their parents leave them in stifling cars with the windows rolled up until they slowly cook to death. I was contemplating this message when I noticed a little 12-18-month old head pop up from the back seat. It was a darling little smiling girl who was obviously unrestrained in the car and was not in a car seat or wearing a seat belt. I wonder what the statistics are of how many children are killed from not being in seatbelts vs. kids roasting to death inside hot cars...I already know which one kills more!!!
During July 2000--June, 2001, data from these two programs documented an estimated 9,160 nonfatal injuries and 78 fatal injuries among children aged <14 years who were left unattended in or around MVs that were not in traffic.....The KIDS 'N CARS™ database provided information on 78 children who died during July 2000--June 2001 in 76 separate incidents. Fatalities occurred in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Of the fatally injured children, 64 (82.1%) were aged <4 years, and 42 (53.8%) were male. In 57 (73.1%) cases, the MV was located near a home (e.g., driveway, unpaved area near home, or street in front of home); in 39 (50%) cases, the child lived at that home. The driver was the parent in 12 (57.1%) of the 21 cases in which a child was backed over. The most common type of fatal incident was exposure to excessive heat inside an MV (e.g., when a child was left inside an MV during hot weather) (34.6%), followed by being backed over and being hurt when a child put an MV in motion (26.9%). Approximately 82% of fatal injuries occurred among children aged <4 years
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5126a3.htm[Note: This study has now been published in Pediatrics. Click
here to download ]
In 2006 there have now been at least two deaths of small children after being left inside a hot vehicle. In 2005 there were at least forty-two child fatalities in the United States due to hyperthermia after they were left in hot cars, trucks, vans and SUV's. Some of these even occurred on days with relatively mild (i.e., ~ 70 degrees F) temperatures. Since 1998 there have been at least a total of 290 of these needless tragedies.
http://ggweather.com/heat/Restraint Use
80% of child restraints are used incorrectly.
NHTSA"Among children ages 14 and under killed as occupants in motor vehicle crashes in 2001, 55% were not using safety restraints at the time of the collision."
National SAFE KIDS Campaign"Nearly a third of children ride in the wrong restraints for their age and size. Recent data from the Crash Injury Research & Engineering Network indicate that inappropriately restrained children are nearly three and a half times more likely to be seriously injured than their appropriately restrained counterparts."
National SAFE KIDS CampaignCar seats reduce the risk of death by 71% for infants and by 54% for children ages 1-4, and reduce the need for hospitalization by 69% for children ages 4 and under.
National SAFE KIDS Campaign and NHTSA Child Passenger Safety Technician Program Participant Manual pg. C-4
"As of October 1, 2001, 137 children have been killed by passenger air bags. Approximately 88 percent of all children killed by passenger air bags were either unrestrained or improperly restrained at the time of the crash, including 22 infants in rear-facing child safety seats in front of a passenger air bag."
National SAFE KIDS Campaign83% of children ages 4-8 ride improperly restrained in adult seat belts. Only 19% of children who should be restrained in booster seats use them.
National SAFE KIDS Campaign"Every dollar spent on a child safety seat saves this country $32."
National SAFE KIDS CampaignBased on an observational study of intersections by
NHTSA, in 2002:
99% of infants (0-12 months) were restrained. 94% of toddlers (1-4 years) were restrained.
only 83% of booster-age children (4-7 years) were restrained.
66% of infants were in a front-facing car seat, 32% were in a rear-facing car seat.
62% of toddlers were in a front-facing car seat, 4% were rear-facing, 16% were in a high-back booster, 13% were in a vehicle belt or backless booster seat, 6% were in no observable restraint.
9% of booster-age kids were in a front-facing car seat, 1% were rear-facing, 6% were in a high-back booster, 67% were in a vehicle belt or backless booster, 17% were in no observable restraint.
If ejected from the vehicle, an occupant is 4 times more likely to die and 14 times more likely to receive cervical spine injuries. NHTSA 2002 Child Passenger Safety Technician Program Participant Manual pg. D-6
Booster seats reduce injury to 4-8 year olds by 59%.
JAMABooster seat use among 4-8 year olds increased from 4% in 1999 to 27% in 2004.
CHOPFor children in car seats, forward-facing kids are 4 times more likely to be injured in a side impact than rear-facing kids.
MSNBChttp://www.carseatsite.com/statistics.htm
