It has nothing to do with reality, it's simply that helicopter parenting and neuroticism has been trending up for ages.
[1]https://seriousaccidents.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/chil...
I dont think its the scary boogy man of people snaching kids, but really drivers just on their phones, but hard to tell.
> crash deaths occur among children traveling as passenger vehicle occupants
just like most/all auto safty crash reports are about the occupants, not the meat popsicle they might hit
Seventy-eight percent of child motor vehicle crash deaths in 2021 were passenger vehicle occupants, 15 percent were pedestrians, and 2 percent were bicyclists. Child pedestrian and bicyclist deaths declined by 91 and 95 percent, respectively, since 1975. Passenger vehicle child occupant deaths in 2021 were 48 percent lower than in 1975.