Feb. 17, 2005 -- It's a basic principle of driving safety: Take care when yo
Feb. 17, 2005 -- It's a basic principle of driving safety: Take care when you back up. But it's time for a reminder -- and new solutions, says the CDC.
The CDC has issued its latest count of nonfatal motor vehicle injuries involving children aged 1-14 years. During 2001-2003, an estimated 7,475 children went to hospital emergency rooms for those injuries, says the CDC in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. That's nearly 2,500 cases per year.
The numbers are based on 168 back-over injuries. CDC researchers used census data to project national figures.
The accidents happened when the children were hit or rolled over by a motor vehicle moving in reverse. Thankfully, most kids (78%) were treated and released from the emergency departments with minor injuries.
Greatest Danger for Youngest Kids
Little kids are harder for drivers to see and can dart behind cars without realizing the danger, compared with older children. Preventive measures can be taken to reduce these risks, says the CDC.
Overall, most children had minor cuts and scrapes (56%). Those were more common for older children, rising from nearly half of injured children aged 1-4 to about 63% of those aged 10-14.
Four in 10 had more serious injuries, such as fractures or internal injuries. Fewer older children had those problems (17% of those aged 10-14 yet and 40% of those aged 1-4).
More than half of back-over injuries affected the arms and legs (54%), while 28% were on the head, face, or neck.
Child Pedestrians at Higher Risk
Most of the hurt children (86%) were on foot. Young pedestrians sustained back-over injuries six times as often as those on bicycles or tricycles.
About six in 10 back-over accidents happened at home (47%) or on public property (32%). At least 40% of the accidents occurred in driveways or parking lots, says the CDC.
Safety Tips
To help protect kids from back-over injuries, the CDC offers this advice:
- Adults should supervise kids around motor vehicles. That includes children playing near parked cars.
- Drivers should look carefully for children before and while backing up.
- Park in garages or driveways and keep the keys out of children's reach.
It's also possible to make cars and driveways safer, says the CDC. Options include:
- Fencing off driveways
- Changing straight driveways to a curved path, eliminating the need to back up
- Fencing off play areas away from driveways and streets
- Updating cars with new technology. Back-up warning alarms, sensing devices, and cameras can alert drivers to out-of-sight objects such as small children, says the CDC.
