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ICJI > Traffic Safety > Occupant Protection Programs > Child Passenger Safety > Child Passenger Safety Facts Child Passenger Safety Facts

  • There is some form of child passenger safety law in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and every US territorry.
  • As of January 2006, 36 States and the District of Columbia require the use of a booster seat or other appropriate restraint device
  • Children in child restraints are 28% less likely to be killed in a crash than children who were wearing seat belts alone (Center for Injury Research and Prevention)
  • Safety seats are 71% effective in reducing deaths for infants and 54% effective in reducing deaths for children ages 1 to 4 years. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
  • Booster seats reduce the risk of serious injury and death by at least 59% compared to safety belts
  • The State of Indiana loses out on an estimated over $500,000 per year in federal funding due to the current exemptions in state law
  • Increased revenue into the state’s general fund is anticipated from infractions given to previously out-of-state non-complying motorists transporting children inappropriately
  • From 1975 through 2002, an estimated 6,567 lives were saved by the use of child restraints (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
  • During 2002, a total of 1,785 children from birth through age 15 were killed in passenger vehicle crashes. Approximately 54 percent of passenger vehicle occupants in this age group were unrestrained (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
  • A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1991-2001, confirmed that: