Childhood pedestrian injuries in the Perth metropolitan area

Objective: To examine the characteristics of childhood pedestrian injuries in the Perth metropolitan area from 1980 to 1989. Design: Retrospective descriptive study. Setting: Perth metropolitan area, Western Australia. Participants: Child pedestrians aged 0 to 14 years who were injured during the period 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1989. Main outcome measures: An extensive database which reported fatal and non-fatal motor vehicle collisions was used to obtain details on the child pedestrian, the vehicle involved in the collision and the environmental factors related to these injuries. Results: A total of 1282 child pedestrian injuries were reported in the 10 year period. Children aged between 5 and 9 years, and more specifically boys between 5 and 9 years, were overrepresented among those injured. This study also demonstrated a similar proportion of injuries involving the 10-14 year age group. Injuries frequently occurred mid block, on local urban roads between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and a greater than expected proportion of drivers involved in these collisions were in the under-21 age category. To describe the pattern of childhood pedestrian injuries we calculated both age-specific injury rates, and injury rates based on the number of registered motor vehicles. The latter revealed a greater than 20-fold variation between local government areas. Conclusions: Further analytical research, incorporating a measure of the child pedestrian's exposure to roads and traffic is required to identity those features in the individual and the environment which have a significant influence on the likelihood of a collision. Such research is required to institute effective preventive measures.