Car Accidents Are One Of The Leading Causes of Child Deaths

A report by the Child Fatality Review Team, indicates that children in New York City are much safer than anyplace else in the nation.  The report which was released by the Health Department illustrated that the injury death rate among children in New York City is half the national rate due to lower rates of homicide and car passenger deaths.  Yet, while children may be 7 times less likely to die as a result of a car accident in the city, car accident still is the leading cause of accidental child deaths. 

"Every child death is a tragedy," said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden.  "While injury death rates are relatively low in New York City, virtually all of these deaths are preventable.  Improving safety on our streets and in our homes will make New York City even safer for kids."

Nearly one-fourth of New York City’s entire fatal child injuries were caused by a cars and other motor vehicles.  In 84% of these cases, the child that was killed was a pedestrian.  In addition, African American children represented 49% of all car accident deaths and half of child-pedestrian deaths occurred within 700 feet of a school, mostly during the evenings, weekends, and summer.