Introduction

Editors

Richard A. Schieber, MD, MPH
Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Maria E. Vegega, PhD
U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Traffic Safety Programs

Additional copies are available for order at the NCIPC website www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pedestrian/ or NHTSA website www.nhtsa.dot.gov

October 2001

The National Strategies for Advancing Child Pedestrian Safety is a publication of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Jeffrey P. Koplan, MD, MPH
Director

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Sue Binder, MD
Director

Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention
Christine Branche, PhD
Director

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Jeffrey W. Runge, MD
Administrator

Traffic Safety Programs
Rose A. McMurray
Associate Administrator

Office of Traffic Injury Control Programs
Marilena Amoni, MS
Director

We acknowledge the conference support provided by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign® and Nestlé. Production services were provided by staff of the Office of Communication Resources, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 

 
Disclaimer

The recommendations presented in this publication were generated during a meeting of diverse public and private organizations and agencies. They do not necessarily represent the official policy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nor of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Rather, they represent the priorities identified by an expert group convened by these two agencies.

Suggested Citation: Schieber RA, Vegega ME (Editors). National Strategies for Advancing Child Pedestrian Safety. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2001.

 ...Dedicated to children walking, everywhere

National Strategies for Advancing Child Pedestrian Safety

Introduction

Few news stories are as disturbing as that of a child killed while crossing the street. The photograph below, winner of the 1958 Pulitzer Prize, is still unsettling. Why did it happen? What could have prevented it? And why is it still happening more than
forty years later?

It only takes a moment for lives to change forever. The young child in this photo graph, trying to cross busy street, was struck by a garbage truck as it rounded the corner. We can easily imagine the tremendous imbalance of momentum here--a truck weighing tons, striking a child weighing just pounds. No protective device, no safety gear could have eliminated that disparity.

By design, our society depends heavily on motor vehicle transportation. It sustains our economy and influences our culture profoundly. And yet, every day, each of us is a pedestrian who needs and deserves to share the road safely with motorists.

The right to walk safely seems fundamental, especially for children, yet each year for more than a decade, more than 700 children have died from injuries sustained while walking, over 500 of these in traffic. Although the fatality rate has declined somewhat during this period, it could be attributable to improvements in pre-hospital and emergency medical care or to a decline in walking as a mode of transportation. As we encourage individuals to get out and walk to combat obesity and other health conditions, we must make sure that they have a safe environment in which to do so.

Many intelligent and caring people, including professionals and advocates, have worked for years to reduce child pedestrian deaths in our country. Experts in motor vehicle safety, public health, city planning, school safety, child development, and engineering have wrestled with the problem, each approaching it from his or her specialty's point of view. But these approaches are limited because the entire solution does not rest within a single specialty. Child pedestrian safety is one of the most complex societal problems we face in injury prevention today.

Effective solutions to the child pedestrian safety problem must be multifaceted and arise from a collaboration among experts from diverse fields. This need inspired the creation of the Panel to Prevent Pedestrian Injuries, an interdisciplinary conference held in September 1998 to focus on reducing childhood pedestrian injuries in the United States. Three organizations came together to spearhead the effort and support the conference--the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, working to protect the nation's health; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, addressing road safety; and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, advocating for the safety of our children. State-of-the-art position papers were commissioned on key topics in pediatric pedestrian injuries, including epidemiology, education, engineering, sociology, psychology, and research. These papers were the basis of discussion at the conference and are included in a separate document of conference proceedings. Nearly 100 individuals representing more than 25 professions participated in this invitational, interdisciplinary conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. Conferees from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia identified key barriers to reducing pedestrian injuries and discussed critical next steps needed to be effective. The suggestions from that meeting are provided as strategies here.

This document is not intended to be a government plan of action, nor to provide recommendations to the government. Rather, these strategies are intended to be used by anyone interested in reducing pedestrian injuries among children, while encouraging them to explore their environment by walking. We urge you to review these strategies, consider them, and implement them. We hope this document will inspire you to dedicate yourself to improving the safety of child pedestrians everywhere.

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