Midlands SafeKids Fast Facts
South Carolina Safety Facts

South Carolina Safety Facts

• S.C. ranks 40th in the nation for unintentional injuries to children –1.5 times higher than the national average.
• S.C. also received an “F” for child passenger safety.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under.
• Approximately 248,000 children ages 14 and under suffered injuries in motor vehicle crashes in 2000.
• Passenger air bags have killed 118 children as of October 2001. Twenty percent of those deaths occurred among infants who had been placed in rear-facing child safety seats in front of the passenger seat airbag. The majority of the children killed by airbags in motor vehicle crashes were unrestrained or improperly restrained.
• If all children age 14 and under were placed in child safety seats, approximately 182,000 serious injuries could be prevented and 600 lives would be saved annually.
• Approximately 14 percent of children ages 14 and under are unrestrained in motor vehicles. Improperly restrained children are nearly three-and-a-half times more likely to die or get injured in a motor vehicle crash.
• About 85 percent of child safety seats or booster seats are improperly used.