Heading out into the community, whether inside a car or strolling on foot, is one of the most dangerous things we do each day. Here are some sobering facts and statistics related to auto & pedestrian safety
1. There are between 600 and 800 child pedestrian deaths every year, and between 40,000 and 50,000 serious injuries
2. Children ages 4 to 8 who no longer ride in a booster seat are 25 times more likely than younger children to sustain serious abdominal injuries. Abdominal injuries have become one of the most common injuries, and serious injuries can occur even in slow crashes.
3. Around half of all 4-7-year-olds were improperly restrained in 2007, either not in a booster seat (35%) or not wearing a seatbelt at all.
4. Around 2,400 kids each year – or approximately 50 children each week – are injured after being struck or run over by a car that is backing out from a driveway. Of these, around 2 kids will die each and every week from their injuries, (or around 100 every year), according to 2007 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
5. KidsAndCars.org, at least 35 children have been killed in power-window accidents in the last decade.
Facts and Statistics about Seatbelts & Airbags
1) Airbags deploy at nearly 200 m.p.h., and are designed to hit the average man in the chest, which is why children are often injured by them, as they strike their head.
2) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that in 2007, more than 5,000 crash deaths would have been prevented if occupants had been wearing seat belts.’(Larry Copeland, “Money steers seat belt debate,” USA Today, 5-14-09, p. 3A)
4) It’s estimated by the NHTSA that safety belts saved the lives of 15,147 people in 2007. (Consumer reports, “Oops! Americans report risky behavior,” March 2009, p. 7)
5. Among children who do not wear seatbelts, one of the leading causes of serious injury is hard left turns. Unrestrained children can be thrown through a car window or go head-first into a windshield and be killed even in low-speed, non-collision accidents
6. Roughly 200 of the 370 fetuses killed every year in U.S. vehicle crashes would be saved if pregnant women wore seatbelts.
Hot Car Deaths
1. When temperatures outside the car are 80-100 degrees, the temperature inside a parked car can be 131-172 degrees. It can take as little as 5 minutes of being inside a locked car for a child to stop breathing
2. Around 50 kids die every year from being left in a hot car
Careless Driving Facts & Statistics
1. 69% of adults admit to talking on their cell phone while driving in the past 30 days, and many admit to doing so with a child in the car. (Family Circle, Aug. 2018, p.9)
2. Driving while texting or otherwise distracted can be as dangerous as driving drunk
3. 57% of drivers admit speeding through a yellow light.