Child pedestrian safety: the role of behavioural science

Cross, Donna S; Hall, Margaret R

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06726.x

Topics

Environmental strategies must be complemented by behavioural approaches to help children learn to use roads safely

In Australia, pedestrian injury is the leading cause of death among 1–14-year-olds.1 In 2000, 38 child pedestrians in this age group died2 and about 1140 (29 per 100 000) were hospitalised, often with lengthy stays, because of injuries sustained when hit by a vehicle.1 These rates decrease with age and are lowest for 10–14-year-olds.1

Child Health Promotion Research Unit, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA.

Correspondence: d.cross@ecu.edu.au

1. Al-Yaman F, Bryant M, Sargeant H. Australia’s children: their health and wellbeing 2002. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2002.
2. Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Fatal road crash database. Available at: http://tssu.atsb.gov.au/Query_DB.cfm (accessed Jan 2005).
3. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Keeping children safe in traffic. Paris: OECD, 2004.
4. Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Australia’s international pedestrian safety performance 1990 to 1997. Canberra: ATSB, 2000. Monograph 3. Available at: http://www.atsb.gov.au/road/stats/pdf/roadsafe97.pdf (accessed Jan 2005).
5. Stevenson M, Jamrozik K, Spittle J. A case-control study of traffic risk factors and child pedestrian injuries. Int J Epidemiology 1995; 24: 957-964.
6. Schieber RA, Vegega ME, editors. Reducing childhood pedestrian injuries: summary of a multidisciplinary conference. Injury Prevention 2002; 8 Suppl 1: i1-i10.
7. Moller JN, Kreisfeld R. Progress and current issues in child injury prevention. Australian Injury Prevention Bulletin 15. Adelaide: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Injury Surveillance Unit, 1997. Available at: www.nisu.flinders.edu.au/pubs/bulletin15/bulletin15.html (accessed Jan 2005).
8. West R, Train H, Junger M, et al. Accidents and problem behaviour. Psychologist 1999; 12: 395-397.
9. Bonnie RJ, Fulton CE, Liverman CT. Reducing the burden of injury: advancing prevention and treatment. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999.
10. Whitebread D, Neilson K. Cognitive and metacognitive processes underlying the development of children’s pedestrian skills. Road safety research report no. 6. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1998.
11. Schieber RA, Thompson NJ. Developmental risk factors for childhood pedestrian injuries. Inj Prev 1996; 2: 228-236.
12. Thomson J, Tolmie A, Foot H, McLaren B. Child development and the aims of road safety education: a review and analysis. Road safety research report no 1. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1996.
13. Tolmie J, Thomson J, Foot H, et al. Development and evaluation of a computer-based pedestrian training resource for children aged 5 to 11 years. Road safety research report no 27. London: Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 2002.
14. Elliott BJ. Review of good practice: children and road safety education. Perth: Western Australian Department of Transport Office of Road Safety, 2000: 1-200.
15. Hill R, Lewis V, Dunbar G. Young children’s concepts of danger. Br J Dev Psychol 2000; 18: 103-119.
16. McComas J, MacKay M, Pivik J. Effectiveness of virtual reality for teaching pedestrian safety. Cyberpsychol Behav 2002; 5: 185-190.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.