Children dying in car crashes decreased by 43 percent between 2002 and 2011, reveals a recent CDC report.
A recent CDC report shows a sharp fall in deaths of children in car crashes between 2002 and 2011.
The CDC authors have based their report on data collected from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on number of deaths in car holders or members related to the cardholders, aged 12 or below, during the study period.
Overall, there have been more than 9,000 deaths during the period. Most of the deaths occurred because the children were not wearing seat belts or using a child safety seat. One in every three children who died in a car crash in 2011 wasnot wearing a seat belt, states the report. The records show 1.2 deaths per 100, 000, compared to 2.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2002, stating a 43 percent decline, in the past nine years.
"The good news is motor vehicle deaths decreased by 43 percent over the past decade for children age 12 and younger. The tragic news is still with that decrease, more than 9,000 kids were killed on the road in this period," said Thomas Frieden, Director of CDC, in a telephone news conference, reports Reuters."Thousands of children are at risk on the road because they are not buckled up."
The usage of seat belts increased to 91 percent in 2011 compared to 88 percent in 2002 but still more awareness needs to be created, the study says. The study also found that a larger number of black and Hispanic children were not using seat belts during the accidents.
The CDC report does not go into the reasons for the decline in the death rates but experts says that stricter state laws on seat belts and usage of child car seats might have helped. Also more focus on educating parents and care givers about teaching children safety rules is useful .
