@article{ref1,
title="Parental beliefs about supervising childrens road crossing and cycling",
journal="Injury prevention",
year="2010",
author="Soole, David William and Lennon, A.",
volume="16",
number="Suppl 1",
pages="A67-A67",
abstract="Safety 2010 World Injury Conference, London, Abstract:: Injury to vulnerable road users is a significant public health issue world-wide, with pedestrians and cyclists accounting for 11 to 30% of road fatalities in highly motorised countries such as the US, UK and Australia. Children are particularly at risk due to their still-developing cognitive and perceptual abilities. In Australia, children aged 0-16 year accounted for 10% of all pedestrian deaths, and 18% of all cyclist deaths during 2006-08. Parents are the primary models for childrens early behaviour and their attitudes toward safety have important implications for childrens road safety. As part of a population-based telephone survey on injury prevention, parents of 5-9 year old children (N=147) responded to questions on their beliefs about preventability of injury and appropriate ages for children to cross the road or cycle independently. Parents reported how often they held their 5-9 year old child's hand while crossing the road. Results suggest parents of 5-9 year olds believe that most injuries, including those on the road, are preventable. The majority indicated that children should be at least 8 years old (75%) before being allowed to cross the road on their own at least 10 years old (85%) to cycle independently. Consistent with this, most parents of 5-7 year old reported holding the child's hand when crossing. However, parents were significantly more likely to report holding a boys hand than a girls. Implications for prevention efforts targeted at both parents and children are discussed.<p />",
language="en",
issn="1353-8047",
doi="10.1136/ip.2010.029215.244",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip.2010.029215.244"
}