Vulnerable child pedestrians in rapidly motorizing developing countries.

The global economic burden of motor vehicle crashes and pedestrian injuries is approximately $500 billion. Children are most vulnerable to being struck by a motor vehicle because they are often impulsive and lack the integrated sensory and cognitive skills required to judge the risks of oncoming traffic. It is predicted that pedestrian road deaths will increase by 65% in the next 10 years. Recent United Nations resolutions encourage Member States to continue using the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention as a framework for road safety efforts. The United Nations supports implementing the World Health Organization (WHO) report recommendations, paying particular attention to the needs of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians. Child pedestrian safety is especially critical in rapidly motorizing countries. Such countries generally lack the resources to physically separate vulnerable road users from motorized traffic. Pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaw operators, and moped users still represent the majority of road users in such countries. Yet, there are often no sidewalks or bicycle paths, and where such amenities do exist, they tend to be heavily obstructed by trees, trash, drainage ditches, and vendors. Children in developing countries are 6 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than their counterparts in developed nations.