Motor-vehicle occupant fatalities and restraint use among children aged 4-8 years--United States, 1994-1998.

In the United States, more children aged 4-8 years die as occupants in motor-vehicle-related crashes than from any other form of unintentional injury (1). To reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by motor-vehicle-related trauma, child passengers in this age group should be restrained properly in a vehicle's back seat (2). To characterize fatalities, restraint use, and seating position among occupants aged 4-8 years involved in fatal crashes, CDC analyzed 1994-1998 data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicate that during 1994-1998, little change occurred in the death rate, restraint use, and seating position among children aged 4-8 years killed in crashes.