Starting in 1995, many child safety campaigns have encour-aged parents, caregivers, and drivers to move children 12 and younger from the front seat to the back seat of vehicles. The focus of this document is on children 12 and younger seated in the front row in passenger vehicles (cars, vans, pickups, and SUVs) and the effect of these child safety campaigns. The analysis is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin-istration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) as well as the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES). Trend data from fatalities and injuries indicate the child safety campaigns (laws, enforcement, and publicity cam-paigns) have worked in moving the children to the back seat. The data indicate a continuous declining trend in fatalities among children 12 and younger in the front seat of passenger vehicles between 1996 and 2006 – from 554 to 209 fatalities, a decline of 62 percent. Nationwide, the fatality ratio for children 12 and young-er in the front seat in passenger vehicles in crashes has shrunk over the past 11 years – from 41 percent to 21 percent. The number and ratio of children age 12 and younger injured in the front seat in passenger vehicles in crashes have also declined between 1996 and 2006. (Author/publisher)
Abstract