Each year in the U.S. about 12,200 children (ages 19 and below) die of unintentional injuries, especially car accident, while 830,000 children around the world die each year, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in December 2008.

Experts are saying that 1,000 of these wrongful deaths can be prevented each day, including those that have happened in a car accident.

Our firm’s experienced car accident attorneys know that if you just take the proper safety measures and do not drive recklessly, then you too can be one of the smart and secure drivers out on the road.  Your actions are what reduce the amount of children’s injuries that happen on the road.

“It is a huge public health concern, and I don’t think we pay as much attention to it as we should,” said a physician and epidemiologist at CDC as well as an author of this report.

For all children over 1-year old, car accidents are the leading cause of unintentional deaths.  As car accident lawyers, we believe that to be a staggering and disturbing car accident statistic.  The report goes on to say that car accident death rates are largely the same for all child age groups until they reach the 15-to-19 age group.  Teenage death rates in car accidents increase six-fold when compared to the rates for all other children.

There are also other children’s age groups that are also of significant risk of injury in a car accident.  Seat belts are one major area of concern for public health officials as they account for many preventable car accidents.  For instance, about 90% of infants who are fatally injured in a car accident were in some sort of special seat or restraint (although not always properly used).

Once children grow a little older and can buckle and unbuckle their own seat belt, the risk of a wrongful death car accident goes up.  Of the total number of children ages four and under killed, 30% were not wearing their seat belt.  Teenage drivers and passengers were worse as half of their car accident deaths could be attributed to a failure to wear a seat belt.

Our car accident attorneys feel that the most staggering car accident statistic of all — which could easily prevent fatal car accidents — is that only 47% of children report always wearing seat belts when riding with others, compared with 82% of adults.

When adult drivers drive with more passengers, their driving gets safer.  Yet when teen drivers add teen passengers, the risk of a car accident increases.  The risk for an auto accident goes up four times as much with three or four passengers.  Speeding and night driving are also greater statistical causes for car accidents amongst teen drivers.  The fatal car accident risk for 16- and 17-year olds is three times as high at night than during the day.  Text-messaging and talking on a cell phone are also new factors that are worrying public health officials.

“We are just beginning to look at those factors,” said an epidemiologist at the CDC.  “We know that any kind of distraction is contributing to crashes in teens.”

Many states are helping to combat the problem of teenage driving by implementing graduated licenses, where teen drivers are not allowed to drive after midnight or with another teenage passenger.  Our auto accident attorneys know the terrible car accident statistics and wrongful deaths that are a direct result of teen drivers.  We are also alarmed by the complete lack of safe-thinking when a child is not wearing a seat belt.  Car accidents happen way too often for people to forgo safety restraints that safe lives.

As a parent, how would you like to find out that your child is not wearing his or her seatbelt, before or after a car accident?  Just to be on the safe side, protect you and your family with the best car insurance policy that you can find.

If you were injured and believe that you deserve compensation, then call our bilingual law offices right away at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney and find out how we can help you.  We look forward to providing good advice for your case.  There is no fee if no recovery.