2022 child traffic safety facts (NHTSA)

Motor vehicle traffic crashes are a leading cause of death of children. A motor vehicle traffic crash is defined as an incident that involved one or more motor vehicles in-transport that originated on or had a harmful event (injury or damage) on a public trafficway, such as a road or highway.

In 2022:

• There were 59.4 million children in the United States, 18% of the total U.S. population.
• Of the 42,514 traffic fatalities in the United States, 1,129 (3%) were children.
• Child traffic fatalities decreased by 6% from 1,200 in 2021, and by 2% from 1,152 in 2013.
• An estimated 156,502 children were injured in traffic crashes, a 4% decrease from 162,314 in 2021.
• An average of 3 children were killed and an estimated 429 children were injured every day in traffic crashes in the United States.
• Males accounted for 55% of child fatalities in traffic crashes, while females accounted for an estimated 51% of children injured in traffic crashes.

Child safety seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury by 71% for infants under 1 year old and by 54% for toddlers 1 to 4 years old in passenger cars.