Factors Contributing to the Severity of Childhood Pedestrian Injury in Perth,Western Australia

Abstract

Pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions that involved children aged 0 to 14 years in Perth, Western Australia were examined for the period 1980-1989 in order to identify factors which contribute to the severity of injury. Nearly half (49%)of the l, 82children injured during this period required hospitalization, with a further 46% of the children requiring some form of medical treatment. Multivariate analysis indicated that children aged 0 to four years had a higher risk of sustaining a severe injury compared with children aged five to nine and ten to 14 years, with relative risks of 1.6 and 1.7 respectively. A greater proportion of more severe injuries occurred after 3 pm. Injuries tended to be more severe when the collision occurred on a highway or main road, and when the child was actually on the road at the point of impact Further research on more comprehensive datasets, which consider the child's behavior at the time of injury as well as driver attributes, will provide greater insight into factors contributing to the severity of injury.

Keywords

Child pedestrian motor vehicle injury severity.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Road Traffic Accidents Involving Casualties, Australia. 1987, Cat no 940503.

2. Rivara FP , Barber M. Demographic analysis of childhood pedestrian injuries. Pediatrics 1985;76:375–391.

3. Haddon W. Advances in the epidemiology of injuries as a basis for public policy. Public Health Rep 1980;95:411–421.

4. Backed EM , Johnson AM. Social patterns of road accidents to children. BMJ 1959; 1:409–413.

5. Ashton SJ. Vehicle design and pedestrian injuries. In: Chapman AJ , Wade FM , Foot HC , editors. Pedestrian Accidents. New York: John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 1982.

6. Guyer B , Talbot AM , Pless IB. Pedestrian injuries to children and youth. Pediatr Clin North Am 1985;32:163–174.

7. Brown ID. Driver behaviour. In: Chapman AJ , Wade FM , Foot HC , editors. Pedestrian Accidents. New York: John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 1982.

8. Knoblauch RL. Causative factors and counter-measures for rural and suburban pedestrian accidents. US Department of Transportation, 1977, DOT-HS-802 266.

9. Health Department of Western Australia. Hospital morbidity statistics. Penh 1988.

10.

10. Bull JP , Roberts BJ. Road accident statistics: A comparison of police and hospital information. Accid Anal Prev 1973;5:45–53.

11.

11. Committee on Medical Aspects of Automotive Safety, Rating the severity of tissue damage. I. The Abbreviated Scale. JAMA 1971;215:277–280.

12.

12. Western Australian Police Department. Motor Vehicle Licencing Statistics. Perth 1991.

13.

13. Stevenson MR , Lo SK , Laing BA , Jamrozik KD.

Childhood pedestrian injuries in the Perth metropolitan area.

Med J Aust 1991(in press).

14.

14. Pitt R , Guyer B , Hsieh C , Malek M. The severity of pedestrian injuries in children: an analysis of the pedestrian injury causation study. Accid Anal Prev 1990;22:549–559.