Toy Safety--Injury Statistics and Incidence Rates

The following statistics are the latest available from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Injury and death rates:

• Approximately 217,000 children are treated at hospital emergency rooms for toy-related injuries

• Most toy-related injuries do not require hospitalization (97 percent); however, in 2005, 20 children died due to toy-related injuries 

Causes:

• Riding toys, such as tricycles and nonpowered scooters, are the leading cause of toy-related injuries 

• Other causes of toy-related deaths include choking, drowning, suffocation, and riding toy accidents (such as when a child is hit by a motor vehicle while riding a toy, or when the child rides a toy into a body of water)

Where, when, and who:

• Riding toys are responsible for the majority of toy injuries among children ages 14 and under

• Most riding toy-related injuries occur when a child falls from a toy

• About half of all toy-related injuries occur to the head and face area

• Children under age three are at greater risk for choking on toys than older children, due to their tendency to put everything in their mouths. In addition, the upper airways of children under age three are smaller than those of older children