Community Safety

Details: Category: Community Safety

Motor vehicle collisions (MVC) are the number one cause of unintentional death among children 1 to 19 years of age. In 2017, teenagers ages 14-19 accounted for 75 percent of MVC fatalities among children.

The activities below teach kids how to stay safe and have fun. Its purpose is to highlight the dangers encountered when travelling to and from school. Children learn using tools they need to make responsible choices before they are ready to drive or ride as passengers with young, new drivers.

Vehicle Safety Facts

Vehicle safety technologies first introduced in 1956, such as seat belts, air bags and electronic stability control, are responsible for 613,501 lives saved in motor vehicle collisions from 1960 to 2012.
It is estimated that in 2016, seat belts saved the lives of 14,668 vehicle occupants ages 5 and older, while child restraint systems were responsible for saving another 328 children under age 5.
When installed and used correctly, child safety seats decrease the risk of a fatal injury by 71 percent among infants, 54 percent among toddlers and 45 percent among children ages 4 to 8.
Back up cameras on vehicles may reduce the blind zone by an average of 94 percent.

Information and Resources

Safe Kids Worldwide is a global organization dedicated to protecting kids from unintentional injuries, the number one cause of death to children in the United States. Throughout the world, 1 million children die of Motor vehicle collision (MVC) injuries each year.

Teen and Novice Drivers

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) programs allow young drivers to safely gain driving experience before obtaining full driving privileges. Most programs include three stages:

Learner Stage: supervised driving, cumulating with a driving test;
Intermediate Stage: limiting unsupervised driving in high risk situations; and
Full Privilege Stage: a standard driver's license.

During the 1990s, many states began enacting GDL laws. The programs and types of restrictions vary from state to state. Below are some highlights:

Cell Phones/Texting: 38 states and the District of Columbia ban all cell phone use by novice drivers. (See GHSA's Cell Phone laws page for more information.)
Nighttime Driving Restriction: All states except Vermont restrict nighttime driving during the intermediate stage.
Passenger Restriction: 46 states and the District of Columbia restrict the number of passengers during the intermediate stage.
Novice Driver Decal: New Jersey is the only state with a measure requiring those younger than 21 without full-privilege licenses to display a decal on their vehicle identifying them as new drivers.

Countdown2drive

Check out Safe Kids Worldwide Countdown2drive program, which helps you put together a passenger agreement and guidelines for pre-teens and teens that are specially tailored for your family.

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