A matched case-control study evaluating the effectiveness of speed humps in reducing child pedestrian injuries.

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the protective effectiveness of speed humps in reducing child pedestrian injuries in residential neighborhoods. METHODS We conducted a matched case-control study over a 5-year period among children seen in a pediatric emergency department after being struck by an automobile. RESULTS A multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis showed that speed humps were associated with lower odds of children being injured within their neighborhood (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.47) and being struck in front of their home (adjusted OR = 0.40). Ethnicity (but not socioeconomic status) was independently associated with child pedestrian injuries and was adjusted for in the regression model. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that speed humps make children's living environments safer.

[1]  F. Rivara,et al.  Demographic analysis of childhood pedestrian injuries. , 1985, Pediatrics.

[2]  I B Pless,et al.  The epidemiology of road accidents in childhood. , 1987, American journal of public health.

[3]  L. Renaud,et al.  Evaluation of the efficacy of simulation games in traffic safety education of kindergarten children. , 1989, American journal of public health.

[4]  J. Eyre,et al.  Causes of fatal childhood accidents involving head injury in northern region, 1979-86. , 1990, BMJ.

[5]  F. Rivara,et al.  Environmental factors and the risk for childhood pedestrian-motor vehicle collision occurrence. , 1990, American journal of epidemiology.

[6]  D. Castillo,et al.  Pedestrian injuries to children younger than 5 years of age. , 1991, Pediatrics.

[7]  F P Rivara,et al.  Prevention of pedestrian injuries to children: effectiveness of a school training program. , 1991, Pediatrics.

[8]  U Engel,et al.  Safety effects of speed reducing measures in Danish residential areas. , 1992, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[9]  R West,et al.  Effects of a traffic club on road safety knowledge and self-reported behaviour of young children and their parents. , 1993, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[10]  R. Norton,et al.  Driveway-related child pedestrian injuries: a case-control study. , 1995, Pediatrics.

[11]  K. Jamrozik,et al.  A case-control study of traffic risk factors and child pedestrian injury. , 1995, International journal of epidemiology.

[12]  H. Bauchner,et al.  Care-seeking patterns of inner-city families using an emergency room. A three-decade comparison. , 1996, Medical care.

[13]  C Peek-Asa,et al.  Child pedestrian and bicyclist injuries: results of community surveillance and a case-control study. , 1996, Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention.

[14]  B Guyer,et al.  Children's exposure to traffic and risk of pedestrian injury in an urban setting. , 1997, Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine.

[15]  F. Rivara.  Pediatric injury control in 1999: where do we go from here? , 1999, Pediatrics.

[16]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Traffic Calming: State of the Practice , 1999 .

[17]  D. Grossman.  The history of injury control and the epidemiology of child and adolescent injuries. , 2000, The Future of children.

[18]  T P Klassen,et al.  Community-based injury prevention interventions. , 2000, The Future of children.

[19]  P J Gruenewald,et al.  Demographic and environmental correlates of pedestrian injury collisions: a spatial analysis. , 2000, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[20]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Traffic Calming Practice Revisited , 2005 .