Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Traffic Accidents Cause Most Fatal Child Injuries
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of most fatal child injuries, National Public Radio (NPR) reports.
The Top 5 Causes of Unintentional Injury in Children are:
Auto Accidents
Motor vehicle accident kill 260,000 children a year and injure about 10 million.
They are:
- the leading cause of death among youths ages 10 to 19, and
- a leading cause of child disability.
Drowning
Drowning accidents kill more than 175,000 children annually, while up to 3 million children survive a drowning incident with injuries.
Due to brain damage in some survivors, nonfatal drowning has the highest average lifetime health and economic impact of any type of injury.
Burns
Fire-related burns kill nearly 96,000 children a year, and the death rate is 11 times higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
Falls
Nearly 47,000 children fall to their deaths every year, but hundreds of thousands more sustain less serious injuries from a fall.
Poisoning
More than 45,000 children die each year from unintended poisoning.
Children Fatalities From Non-Intentional Injuries
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, over a million children die from unintentional injuries each year.
The lives of the 830,000 children under 18 who die every year and millions more who suffer from disabilities after injuries could have been saved.
Most efforts lately have been directed at ending infectious diseases and malnutrition among children, but unintentional injuries kill far more children. The WHO report says that these statistics show that unintentional injuries represent a huge public health problem.
The WHO report shows that road traffic accidents were a particular problem in developing countries. The highest rate of child fatal deaths from traffic accidents was in Africa and Asia, according to WHO, while countries like the US have reduced the accidental death rate after educational efforts that convinced parents to use helmets, child safety seats, and restraints.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also reported that more than 70,000 young children and teens died from unintentional injuries between 2000 and 2005.
Many unintentional injuries can be prevented. WHO and CDC are recommending that child injury prevention be included in existing child survival and child health programs.
Kiley Law Group, located in Andover and Boston, Massachusetts takes time when speaking with you about your case and works with you on a contingent basis so there are NO FEES unless our trained Massachusetts child injury lawyers win your case.
Call now for a FREE evaluation of your case.
Call today: 888-208-1695.
