Motor Vehicle Injuries

The Prevention Status Reports highlight—for all 50 states and the District of Columbia—the status of four key policies that states can use to reduce motor vehicle crash injuries and deaths:

The Problem

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States for people aged 30 years or younger.6 In 2011, motor vehicle crashes killed more than 32,000 people and injured more than 2.6 million.6,7

Policies & Practices

Seat belt law

People who are wearing a seat belt are more likely to survive a motor vehicle crash or suffer less serious injuries than those who are not, and seat belt laws have been proven to increase seat belt use.1,2,5,8,9

Primary enforcement seat belt laws allow police to stop vehicles solely because a driver or passenger is not wearing a seat belt. Secondary enforcement seat belt laws require police to have some other reason for stopping a vehicle before citing a driver or passenger for not buckling up. The most comprehensive policies are primary enforcement seat belt laws that cover all occupants regardless of where they are sitting in the vehicle. Some states have primary laws that cover only the front seat occupants.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends primary enforcement seat belt laws on the basis of strong evidence of their superior effectiveness over secondary laws in reducing motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths.1,2 Rates of seat belt use range from 9 to 14 percentage points higher in primary law states than secondary law states.1,2,5,8,9

Status of state seat belt laws, United States (as of August 1, 2013)

(State count includes the District of Columbia.)

± How the ratings were determined

± More information on this indicator

Child passenger restraint law

Appropriate restraints for child passengers reduce children’s risks for death or serious injury in a crash.5,10,11 Child passenger restraint laws require children to travel in appropriate child restraints, such as car seats or booster seats, until adult seat belts fit them properly. Evidence shows that laws mandating use of car seats and booster seats increase their use.3,5,12

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends laws mandating the use of car seats and booster seats to increase restraint use and reduce injuries and deaths among child passengers.3The Task Force found that child passenger restraint laws increased car seat use by a median of 13%, decreased deaths by 35%, and decreased injuries and deaths combined by 17%.3

Status of state child passenger restraint laws, United States (as of August 1, 2013)

(State count includes the District of Columbia.)

± How the ratings were determined

± More information on this indicator

Graduated driver licensing system

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States. In 2011, nearly 2,000 drivers aged 15–20 years were killed and 180,000 injured in motor vehicle crashes. Young drivers are at the greatest risk.13

Graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems have been proven effective at keeping teens safer on the road.5,14,15 They help new drivers gain experience under low-risk conditions by granting driving privileges in stages. As teens move through the stages of GDL, they are given additional privileges, such as driving without adult supervision.

Research indicates that more comprehensive GDL systems prevent more crashes and save more lives than less comprehensive GDL systems.5,14,15 On the basis of this evidence, the following five components5,14-16 are recommended for more comprehensive GDL systems:

Minimum age of 16 years for a learner’s permit
Mandatory holding period of at least six months for a learner’s permit
Restrictions against nighttime driving between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am (or longer)
Limit of zero or one for the number of young passengers without adult supervision
Minimum age of 18 years for full licensure

Status of state GDL systems, United States (as of August 1, 2013)

(State count includes the District of Columbia.)

± How the ratings were determined

± More information on this indicator

Ignition interlock law

Since the mid-1990s, alcohol-impaired driving has been involved in nearly one- third of all fatal crashes.17-19 Drivers who have been convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI) are seven times more likely than drivers without a DWI conviction to be involved in a fatal crash.18 Ignition interlock laws—which mandate the use of ignition interlocks for drivers convicted of DWI—can do much to reduce this risk. An ignition interlock is a device installed in a vehicle that analyzes a driver’s breath and prevents the vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends the use of ignition interlocks for all convicted DWI offenders. The Task Force found that ignition interlocks, while installed, reduced the rate of re-arrest among convicted DWI drivers by a median of 67%.4

(Note: A DWI offender is an individual who has been found by a court of law to be in violation of the jurisdiction’s DWI law. A DWI law makes it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC)>0.08 g/dL. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have these laws.)