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Div. of Media Relations
1600 Clifton Road
MS D-14
Atlanta, GA 30333
(404) 639-3286
Fax (404) 639-7394 |
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Fact Sheet
Embargoed until
February 17, 2005, 12 PM EDT |
Contact: CDC Injury Center
Media Relations (770) 488-4902 |
Motor Vehicle Backover Injury Among Children and Youth—
United States, 2001-2003
Motor vehicle backover-related injuries pose a serious risk to children
and youth with an estimated 7,475 children from ages one to 14 years treated
in U.S. emergency departments between 2001 and 2003 for nonfatal backover-related
injuries. CDC researchers found that half of the children injured were ages
one to four years old. Most backover-related injuries took place at home or
on public property with 40% of incidents reported in driveways or parking
lots. While the majority (78%) of cases were treated and released from the
emergency departments, motor vehicles backing over children and youth pose a
substantial risk for severe injury and death. Alerting parents and
caretakers to this risk makes it possible for them to take simple steps to
protect children from backover-related injuries. Additionally, prevention
measures ranging from environmental modifications, like fencing off
driveways, to changes in vehicle design, like extra mirrors or sensing
devices, may reduce the risk of backover-related injuries to children and
youth and should be evaluated.
Key Findings Include:
- Pedestrians who were standing, sitting, playing, or walking near or
behind a motor vehicle were six times more likely to be backed over by a
vehicle than bicyclists or tricyclists.
- Injuries occurred predominantly to arms and legs (53.6%) and to the
head, face, and neck region (28.0%).
- More than half (56%) of all injuries were minor contusions and
abrasions; the occurrence of these minor contusions and abrasions
increased with age, from 49.4% among one to four year-olds to 62.5% among
10-14 year olds. More serious injuries including fractures and internal
injuries decreased with age from 39.5% among children aged one to four
years to 17.5% among children aged 10 to 14 years.
Prevention Strategies:
- Public education may increase awareness among parents and caregivers
and encourage adults to adequately supervise children and youth who are
playing in areas near parked motor vehicles; motivate drivers to look
carefully for children and youth before backing up; and prompt owners to
lock motor vehicles in garages or driveways and to always keep the keys
out of the reach of children and youth.
- Proposed environmental modifications include fencing driveways off
from the rest of the yard; providing fenced play areas away from the
driveway and street; and redesigning drives to be circular to eliminate
the need to back out. Those modifications that prove effective should be
implemented.
- Automobile modifications may also play a role in preventing backover-related
injuries among children and youth and should be evaluated for their
effectiveness. Possible changes include back-up warning alarms when a
vehicle is placed in reverse and the use of mirrors or sensing devices
that would alert the driver to an out-of-sight object, such as a small
child, when backing the vehicle.
This MMWR article is available online at:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5406a2.htm
For additional information from CDC’s National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc.
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