Death rate for child pedestrians cut in half
WASHINGTON (AP) – The rate at which children were hit and killed in traffic was cut almost in half during the 1990s as fewer kids walked to school and improvements in traffic safety prevented deaths, according to a report to be released Tuesday. According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, 475 pedestrians under 15 years old were killed while walking in public roadways in 2000, compared to 861 in 1990.
The campaign’s report on child pedestrian safety found that parents worried about safety, long distances, time and crime are increasingly driving their children to school or putting them on the bus instead of allowing them to walk.
In 1969, about half of elementary school children walked or biked to school, the study said. By 1995, the government’s Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey of 5- to 9-year-olds found that 10 percent of kids walked to school, 53 percent traveled by car and about 30 percent rode school buses.
Heather Paul, executive director of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, said it’s important to make roadways a safer place for children to walk to school.
“We know obesity numbers are growing, and part of it is based on sedentary trends for children,” Paul said. “Walking to school should be the first step, literally and figuratively, toward a really healthy day.”
Paul also attributed the drop in deaths to better traffic safety, including more crossing guards and flashing lights and increased ticketing of speeders.
Children are most likely to be hit and killed from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the study found. Of those children killed while walking in roadways, only 29 percent were struck at intersections.
The pedestrian death rate also changes significantly by age, race and sex, according to the report. Children under 9 have a rate 20 percent higher than 10- to 14-year-olds.
The death rate for black children is more than twice that of whites, and boys die 57 percent more often than girls.
Wednesday is International Walk to School Day, and SAFE KIDS and FedEx Express volunteers will visit schools across the country to teach children how to be safe when walking to school.
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On the Net: National SAFE KIDS Campaign: http://www.safekids.org/