Children in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes

Review of North Carolina traffic crash data revealed that alcohol use, although associated with 7.9% of motor vehicle crashes involving children, accounted for 15.4% of the motor vehicle-related deaths and 10.4% of the injuries. The largest proportion of these deaths were child passengers in a vehicle in which the driver had been drinking, followed by child passengers in multiple-vehicle crashes in which the other driver had been drinking. The smallest proportion of deaths were child pedestrians. These findings suggest that, in addition to supporting more stringent alcohol control legislation, health care providers should be admonishing parents about the deadly hazards of drinking and driving to the children in their care.