The number of children, teens and young adults killed in car crashes in Colorado dropped 44 percent during the past five years.
The greatest decline was among people ages 15 to 20, with a 53 percent decrease in deaths.
More children die from motor vehicle crashes than any other type of injury.
In the United States each year, more than 7,000 children from infants to 19 die in car crashes every year, and more than 600,000 are hospitalized.
Colorado’s motor vehicle death rate for children is 3.5 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Colorado has the 18th lowest motor vehicle death rate in the nation.
The lower death rate is attributed to the state’s graduate driver licensing laws, as well as a coalition of private and public groups bent on educating parents and teens about safe driving, seat belt use and other regulations.