Alcohol-related traffic fatalities involving children--United States, 1985-1996.

Motor-vehicle-related injuries are the leading cause of death for persons aged 1-24 years in the United States. Although the relation between alcohol use and motor-vehicle-related deaths involving teenagers is well established, understanding of the role of alcohol in such deaths among younger children is limited. To characterize the involvement of alcohol in motor-vehicle-related deaths of U.S. children aged <15 years during 1985-1996, CDC analyzed data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicate that approximately one fourth of all traffic deaths among children aged <15 years involved alcohol and that in nearly two thirds of passenger deaths involving a legally drunk driver, the child was in the car driven by the legally drunk driver.