ATVs not the only off-road risk for kids
Last Updated: 2007-07-05 10:30:17 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Anne Harding
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The dangers of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are fairly well-known, but other kinds of non-automobile motorized vehicles, from mopeds to go-carts, can be equally risky for kids, research shows.
"All types of motorized vehicles pose a risk of injury to children," Christy L. Collins of Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health. "Parents shouldn't think of them as toys."
Collins and colleagues looked at 1990-2003 data from the US Consumer Products Safety Commission covering an estimated 1,203,800 kids treated for injuries related to motorized vehicles.
ATVs were the leading cause of injury, representing 44.8 percent of the total, while another 21.1 percent of the injuries were related to two-wheeled off-road vehicles. Go-carts or buggies were involved in 13.7 percent of the emergency room visits.
The average age for injured children was 12.7 years, although injuries in children as young as one month of age were reported. Just over three quarters of the injuries occurred in boys.
The investigators also saw injuries among children who were not riding the motorized vehicles, but were simply nearby and were struck or run over.
ATV injuries were most common among children 16 and older, as well as those between the ages of 12 and 15, while injuries related to other motorized vehicles were most common among children younger than 12.
An estimated 130,900 motorized vehicle injuries occurred in 2003, an 86 percent jump from 1990, when 70,500 were reported.
Given that over half of the injuries were related to motorized vehicles other than ATVs, Collins noted, "collectively they're obviously a part of the problem." However, she noted, most safety legislation has focused exclusively on ATVs. "No one's really talking about regulations that should be made for using other motorized vehicles."
In their report in the July issue of Pediatrics, Collins and her team recommend that the effectiveness of existing ATV laws be examined, and that laws that are effective be expanded to include other types of motorized vehicles.
In the meantime, Collins added, "we're recommending that kids, especially those under 16, not ride or operate motor vehicles, just because they don't have the judgment or motor skills to operate them."
SOURCE: Pediatrics, July 2007.
