Citation

Jacobsen PL, Anderson CL, Winn DG, Moffat J, Agran PF, Sarkar S. ITE J. 2000; (February): 71-75.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Institute of Transportation Engineers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since most children are injured on residential streets near their own homes, the authors conducted a study of the characteristics of the neighborhoods and streets where children were seriously injured. 15 Children age 14 years or younger who were hospitalized for a pedestrian injury in central Orange County over a two-year period were identified. This area is typical of much of the residential land developed after World War II. Residential street widths are typically 38 feet (ft.) curbto-curb and intersection curb radii are 25 or 30 ft. All parking is parallel to the curb. These streets were sized to minimize auto-to-auto collisions and to ease automotive travel. Modern street standards recognize these widths as excessive and call for narrower widths. 16, 17 In recent years, many communities have modified their standards. 18 However, the United States has a large inventory of these types of streets. To better understand the role of neighborhood features in childhood pedestrian injury, the neighborhood environments of the 39 children who were injured in the same block as their homes were studied. These were compared to the neighborhood environments of 62 uninjured children, matched on age, gender, ethnicity and city of residence. Vehicular traffic and pedestrians were counted during a 15-minute (min.) period between 3: 45 and 5 pm, a highrisk period for child pedestrian injuries. All pedestrians of any age who were easily visible and not within enclosed areas were counted, whether or not they entered the street. Pedestrians and parked cars were counted on both sides of the street within 250 ft. of the residence. If the street ended in a shorter …

Language: en