Motor vehicle-related injury is the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 1 to 24 years in the United States. Approximately 24% of child traffic deaths involve alcohol. The objective of this study was to examine characteristics of crashes involving child passenger deaths and injuries associated with drinking drivers to identify opportunities for prevention. A descriptive epidemiological analysis was done of 1985-1996 data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System on deaths among US child passengers (aged 0-14 years) and 1988-1996 data from the General Estimates System on nonfatal injuries. Main outcome measure was child passenger death or injury by driver characteristics (e.g., driver age, blood alcohol concentration, and driving history). In 1985-1996, there were 5555 child passenger deaths involving a drinking driver. Of these deaths, 3556 (64.0%) occurred while the child was riding with a drinking driver; 67.0% of these drinking drivers were old enough to be the parent or caregiver of the child. Of all drivers transporting a child who died, drinking drivers were more likely than nondrinking drivers to have had a previous license suspension (17.1% vs 7.1%) or conviction for driving while intoxicated (7.9% vs 1.2%). Child restraint use decreased as both the child's age and the blood alcohol concentration of the child's driver increased. In 1988-1996, an estimated 149,000 child passengers were nonfatally injured in crashes involving a drinking driver. Of these, 58,000 (38.9%) were riding with a drinking driver when injured in the crash. These data indicate that the majority of drinking driver-related child passenger deaths in the United States involve a child riding unrestrained in the same vehicle with a drinking driver. Typically, the drinking driver transporting the child is old enough to be the child's parent or caregiver. (Author/publisher)
Abstract