Child traffic deaths up 3 percent in 2012: report

Washington – A total of 1,168 children 14 and younger died in traffic crashes in 2012 – an average of three per day and a 3 percent increase from 2011, according to a recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In addition, traffic crashes injured 462 children in the 14-and-younger age group per day, states the report, published by NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis.

Other findings in the report:

• For incidents in which restraint use was known, 40 percent of children 14 or younger who died in a motor vehicle crash were not using a safety restraint at the time of the crash.
• About 20 percent of children age 4 or younger who died in a motor vehicle crash were killed by an alcohol-impaired driver; slightly more than half were in the same vehicle as the impaired driver.
• States with the most traffic-related child deaths in 2012 were Texas (181), California (95), Florida (58) and North Carolina (54).