In the United States, unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 1 and 44.  Unintentional injuries result in nearly 90,000 deaths and millions of nonfatal injuries each year.¹ 

Facts about Motor Vehicle-Related Injuries:

• In the United States, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury deaths, accounting for 31% of all such deaths.¹ 

• In 1997, motor vehicle crashes resulted in 41,967 deaths, 3.4 million nonfatal injuries, and 23,900 property damage crashes.  Cost estimates exceeded $200 billion.²

• The United States has witnessed a 90% decrease in the annual death rate, despite a steep increase in the number of drivers, cars and vehicle miles traveled.² (see graph)

• The annual percentage of motor vehicle crash-related fatalities involving alcohol has decreased 39% since 1982, to approximately 16,000 per year.  In 1997, these deaths accounted for 38.6% of all fatal motor vehicle-related crashes.³

• Nationwide rates of safety belt use have increased from approximately 11% in 1981 to 68% in 1997.⁴

• In 1996, child restraint was up to 85% for children less than one year old and 60% for children aged 1-4 years.⁵  Surveys have shown, however, that child seats are misused by as many as 80% of users.⁶ Additionally, parents often don't recognize the need for booster seats for children who are too large for child seats, yet not large enough to be safely restrained in an adult lap-shoulder belt.⁷

• In 1997, 5,697 teenagers (13- to 19-year-olds) died of injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes.⁸

• The death rate for male teenaged drivers (12 per 100,000) is twice that for female teenaged drivers (6 per 100,000). 8

Older Drivers

• In 1997, 7,326 people aged 65 years or older died of injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes. Of those who died, 80% were occupants of motor vehicles and 16% were pedestrians.⁹

• Pedestrian-related fatalities account for about 13% of motor vehicle-related deaths.¹⁰  In 1997, this translated to more than 5,000 deaths and at least 77,000 injuries, and most of the injured were young children, older adults, and people who were intoxicated.¹¹