Factors contributing to the severity of childhood pedestrian injury in Perth, Western Australia.

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 1,282 children 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.