Child Traffic Fatalities By Year: 1975 – 2019 Statistics

It’s nothing less than a tragedy when personal injury affects a child – especially if the car accident was preventable or caused by the negligence of another person.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 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.

The tables and graphs below are based on information from IIHS and data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

2019 Highlights & Takeaways

• Seventy-three percent of child motor vehicle crash deaths in 2019 were passenger vehicle occupants, 16 percent were pedestrians, and 4 percent were bicyclists.
• The rate of motor vehicle crash deaths per million children younger than 13 has decreased 80 percent overall since 1975.
• Fourteen percent of the passenger vehicle child occupant deaths in 2019 occurred in front seats. It is recommended that children 12 and younger ride in the rear seats of vehicles.
• Children younger than 13 represented 16 percent of the U.S. population in 2019 and 2 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.
• Since 1975, fatality rates dropped 77 percent for infants, 75 percent for children ages 1-3, 52 percent for children ages 4-8, and 49 percent for children ages 9-12.
• In 2019, passenger vehicle occupants accounted for the majority of motor vehicle crash deaths for all age groups of children.
• More children were killed in motor vehicle crashes on Saturdays in 2019 (20 percent) than on any other day of the week.
• Twenty-two percent of the deaths of children in motor vehicle crashes in 2019 occurred between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., and 20 percent occurred between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
• The proportion of children killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2019 was greater during the months of May and June (11 percent each month) compared with other months of the year.

Motor vehicle deaths among children younger than 13 by type, 1975-2019

Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths by age, 1975-2019

For the full report from IIHS, see Fatality Facts 2019: Children.

Families are deeply affected in cases of catastrophic injury to a child, and justice must be sought. You are not alone in the fight to bring justice to your child. We are here to fight with you. We are here to help.

Whether you are coping with the injury or loss of a child, our children’s injury lawyers can help you file a claim against the responsible party. Our San Diego personal injury attorneys are compassionate people who understand the difficulties of your circumstances and we want to help. We are committed to fighting hard on your child’s behalf so the negligent person or company is held responsible for the tragic situation at hand.

Michael Pines

SENIOR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY & FIRM FOUNDER

Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1987. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes how insurance companies work and how they decide how much to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael’s inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents. Learn more about Michael Pines