Children.

In 2003, there were more than 60 million children under 15 years old in the United States. This age group (0-14 years) made up 21 percent of the total U.S. resident population in 2003. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children of every age from 2 to 14 years old (based on 2001 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics). In 2003, there were a total of 42,643 traffic fatalities in the United States. The 0-14 age group accounted for 5 percent (2,136) of those traffic fatalities. In addition, children under 15 years old accounted for 4 percent (1,591) of all vehicle occupant fatalities, 9 percent (253,000) of all the people injured in motor vehicle crashes, and 8 percent (220,000) of all the vehicle occupants injured in crashes. In the United States, an average of 6 children 0-14 years old were killed and 694 were injured every day in motor vehicle crashes during 2003. In the 0-14 year age group, males accounted for 59 percent of the fatalities and 50 percent of those injured in motor vehicle crashes during 2003. (Author/publisher)