Alcohol and Child Passenger Deaths
During the 5-year period 1997 to 2002, nearly 2,400 children died
in traffic accidents involving alcohol. Sixty-eight percent died while
passengers in cars driven by people under the influence of alcohol. The
remainder were killed as a result of vehicles driven by drivers under
the influence of alcohol.
Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among children
aged 1 or less in the United States, and one in four crash-related
deaths among child passengers older than 14 years or more involves
alcohol use.
To characterize the occurrence of child passenger deaths involving
drinking drivers during 1997 to 2002, the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) analyzed data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated
that among the 2,355 children who died in alcohol-related crashes, 1,588
(68%) were riding with drinking drivers; the majority of these children
were not restrained. To reduce the number of child fatalities in
alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes, effective interventions are
needed to prevent alcohol-impaired driving and to increase use of child
passenger restraints.
FARS is a census of fatal motor-vehicle crashes that occur on public
roadways in the United States and result in the death of an occupant or
non-occupant (e.g., pedestrian or bicyclist) within 30 days of the
crash. A fatal motor-vehicle crash was classified as alcohol related if
either a driver or non-occupant had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC)
of >0.01 g/dL. When BACs were not available, they were imputed from
driver and crash characteristics by using a two-stage estimation
procedure. A drinking driver was defined as a driver with a measured or
imputed BAC of >0.01 g/dL. Child passengers were defined as
passengers aged less than 14 years old.
During the 5-year period 1997 to 2002:
- A total of 9,622 child passengers died in motor-vehicle
crashes
- 2,335 (24%) were killed in crashes involving drinking
drivers.
- Of the 2,061 alcohol-related crashes involving drinking drivers in
which children were killed, 1,624 (79%) involved at least one driver
with a BAC at or above the legal limit.
- Of these crashes, 1,238 (60%) occurred during 6 a.m. to 9
p.m.
- Of the 2,335 children who died in alcohol-related crashes, 1,588
(68%) were riding with drinking drivers.
- The median BAC of the 1,409 drinking drivers who were transporting
children was 0.13 g/dL (range: 0.01--0.65 g/dL). Of the 1,409
drinking drivers involved in these crashes, 956 (68%) survived.
For all child passenger deaths, including those not involving
drinking drivers, child passenger restraint use decreased as both the
child's age and BAC of the child's driver increased. Of 1,451 child
passengers with known restraint information who died while riding with
drinking drivers, 466 (32%) were restrained at the time of the crash.
Reported by: R.A. Shults, PhD, Div. of Unintentional Injury
Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC.
Summary
1. About Seat Restraints
The findings in this report indicate that during 1997 to 2002,
approximately 390 children died annually in alcohol-related crashes in
the United States. The majority of children who died while riding with
drinking drivers were not restrained at the time of the crash. The
majority of drivers in these crashes survived, suggesting that certain
children killed in alcohol-related crashes might have survived had they
been restrained properly.
Strong enforcement of child safety-seat laws and passage of primary
enforcement safety-belt laws (i.e., laws that allow police to stop and
ticket a driver solely because an occupant is unbelted) in all states
could further reduce child passenger deaths.
Because 60% of alcohol-related crashes involving child passenger
deaths occurred during 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., enforcement activities of child
safety-seat and safety-belt laws (e.g., roadside checkpoints) are
needed, especially during daylight hours.
Drinking drivers have higher rates of severe crashes; for this
reason, stricter enforcement of restraint laws might substantially
reduce the number of deaths of children who are transported by these
drivers.
2. Limitations of Report
The findings in this report are subject to at least three
limitations.
- First, because BAC data are imputed for approximately 60% of FARS
cases, the precision of the reported BACs is reduced.
- Second, for crashes in which a child's driver survived, driver
alcohol use might have been under-reported because alcohol testing
is more complete among fatalities.
- Finally, information about restraint use is obtained from police
crash reports, which might over-report restraint use.
Strategies for Improvement
To decrease alcohol-related crash fatalities among child passengers,
communities should implement effective strategies to reduce
alcohol-impaired driving, particularly among drivers who transport
children.
Effective policies that apply to the general driving population
include:
- Sobriety checkpoints
- Lower legal BACs (e.g., less than 0.08 g/dL, the "legal
limit" common in most states)
- Administrative license suspension
- Mandatory substance-abuse assessment and treatment for persons
convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Strategies to deter persons from drinking and driving with children
might include:
- Even lower legal BAC limits for drivers transporting children than
what apply to the general population of drivers
- Child endangerment laws that apply to persons who drive while
intoxicated with a child in the vehicle.
Such laws have been enacted in 35 states; however, the effectiveness
of these laws has not been evaluated.
"Zero Tolerance" Policy
Families and caregivers can reduce the risk to child passengers by
adopting a "zero tolerance" policy regarding alcohol
consumption when transporting children. When health-care providers
advise caregivers about injury risks to children, they should counsel
against drinking and driving. Health-care providers treating adults can
screen patients for alcohol-related problems and provide them with brief
interventions or refer them to treatment, as needed.
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