Child Traffic Accidents: An Investigation of Accident Factors

Abstract

With the aim of examining accident factors in detail, 124 children aged 0–14 years were investigated; these comprised 90.5% of all children in the Odense area who in 1974 collided with a motor vehicle either as pedestrian or cyclist, and were seen at the casualty ward, Odense University Hospital. There were 82 boys and 42 girls, 64 cyclists and 60 pedestrians. 56.6% of accidents occurred in residential areas on roads with light traffic. 58% of bicycle accidents occurred at junctions, 61% of pedestrian accidents on a straight stretch of road. In 76.6% of pedestrian accidents the child suddenly ran out into the road. 42% of accidents occurred on the way home, only 21% occurred on the way from home. 19.8% of accidents involving school-age children occurred on the way to or from school. In 49.2% of accidents the child was accompanied by other children, only in 10.5% of accidents by an adult. The majority of pedestrians aged 5 or over and the majority of cyclists aged 7 or over had been given permission to go alone in traffic. Playing was found to be a factor in 9.7% of the accidents. The most common accident situation for pedestrians was found to be: stepped out in front of or from behind a parked car; for cyclists: left-hand turn in front of oncoming vehicle (Denmark has right-hand traffic). The most important single accident factor was perception-hindering elements: hedges, parked cars, etc. were causal factors in 38.7% of accidents.

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