Arizona car accidents a leading cause of death among children

A Sunrise, Arizona car accident injured two children over the weekend after police say a Camaro ran a red light and struck the Tahoe in which they were riding.

Our Phoenix injury attorneys frequently write about the dangers faced by teenagers on the road. But there is no less risk for younger children: The fact remains that car accidents are the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14 nationwide, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as teenagers of driving age.

CBS5 reported that a woman driving the Camaro may have ran a red light at Cactus and Bullard on Saturday and hit the Chevy Tahoe in the intersection. The woman driving the Tahoe and her two children were injured. Both a 16-year-old girls and an infant boy were ejected from the vehicle.

They were flown to an area hospital with serious injuries. Their mother was transported by ground ambulance. The driver of the Camaro was not injured, according to police.

The federal government reports that 1,314 children under the age of 14 were killed in traffic accidents last year. More than 179,000 were injured. Those statistics mean an average of 4 children are killed and 490 are injured in traffic accidents each day.

Government figures show child safety seats can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers in passenger cars. Last year, Arizona car accidents killed 44 children under the age of 14. Seventeen of those victims were under the age of 3.

A recent government report also found that SUV’s were more prone to rollover accidents in Arizona and elsewhere, which often leads to the ejection of passengers. Fifty-eight percent of those killed in SUV accidents were involved in rollover accidents, compared to 48 percent for pickups, 35 percent for vans and 25 percent for passenger cars.

Nationwide, about one-third of all traffic fatalities result from rollover accidents.