A Health Surveillance Update on Canadian Children and Youth

Motor Vehicle Crashes

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury death in children older than one year of age.

Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a leading cause of injury death and hospitalization in children and youth. In children older than one year of age, MVCs are the leading cause of injury death.⁽¹⁾ The MVC mortality rate is the number of deaths attributed to MVCs per 100,000 population per year. MVCs can occur on and off-road; only traffic (on-road) injury deaths are included in this report.

In Canada in 1996, 543 (6.8/100,000) children under age 20 died as a result of MVCs. Traffic mortality rates were highest among youth aged 15-19 years (17.9/100,000). The traffic mortality rates were uniformly higher among boys than girls. Half of the MVC-related deaths involved motor vehicle occupants (70.6% of them were aged 15-19), 17.5% of those who died were pedestrians (33.7% aged 5-9 and 33.7% aged 15-19), 3.7% of the motor vehicle deaths involved bicyclists (45.0% of them were aged 10-14) and 3.7% of those who died were motorcyclists (all of whom were aged 15-19).

Age-adjusted MVC mortality rates have decreased by 60% from 1980 to 1996. MVC mortality rates among vehicle occupants aged 15-19, bicyclists aged 10-14 and pedestrians aged 5-9 and 15-19 all demonstrated marked decreases from 1980 to 1996. Figure 3 presents the age-standardized MVC mortality rates among Canadian children and youth from 1980 to 1996.

Note: Rates are standardized to the age distribution of the 1991 Canadian population.
Source: Bureau of Reproductive and Child Health, LCDC, based on Statistics Canada data⁽¹⁾

Internationally, motor vehicle traffic injuries are also identified as a leading cause of injury death.⁽³⁾ Among selected developed countries, traffic injuries account for 40% of the injury mortality in children aged 1-14 years. Figure 4 compares Canada's MVC mortality rate for this age group with rates from other, selected countries.

Note: Time periods for individual country rates differ.
Source: Fingerhut et al. 1998⁽³⁾

Data Limitations
As previously described, Canadian mortality data are generally strong. Differences in international injury data must be interpreted with caution since some variation may be due to between-country differences in death registration, certification, classification and population enumeration.

Summary
In spite of a significant decline in MVC mortality rates since 1980, MVCs remain the leading cause of injury deaths in Canadian children and youth. Ongoing efforts to prevent and control these injuries are needed to further reduce this injury burden.

Unless referenced otherwise, MVC mortality statistics are the product of the Bureau of Reproductive and Child Health, LCDC⁽¹⁾

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