Accidents kill 830,000 children annually

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Around the globe, accidents kill 830,000 children annually - equivalent to all the children in Chicago, according to a report issued by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The report, the first to collect all known data on child injuries worldwide, makes broad estimates because many poor countries gather few health statistics, and many children are hurt or killed without ever seeing a doctor.

Though 95 percent of all injuries to children occur in poor and middle-income countries, injuries account for 40 percent of all child deaths in rich ones.

By teen years, road injuries become major killers in poor countries as in rich ones.  In the 15 to 19 age group, for example, the leading cause of death is traffic accidents.

In the United States, accidents kill 12,175 children a year - more than all diseases combined, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.  Car crashes were the leading cause in the U.S., except for children age 4 or less.

New signs to memorialize DWI wreck victims

A new state program will allow friends and relatives of people killed in drunken driving wrecks in Texas to buy memorial signs that will be placed near the crash site for a year.

The $300 signs will be 42 inches high and 48 inches wide, with a blue background and white lettering and have the victim’s name, the wreck date, and the phrases “Please Don’t Drink and Drive” and “In Memory of” on them.  The $300 covers the cost of making the sign and putting it up which will be placed as close as possible to the crash site.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas had more than 1,670 fatalities in 2006 that involved drivers who were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The program applies only to people killed by impaired drivers.  Impaired drivers who were killed in a crash will not be eligible.  Also, to be eligible, the victims must have been killed on a state-maintained road.

Rural Teens Take More Driving Risks

A recent article in the Austin American Statesman reveals that teen drivers in rural areas are at a greater risk of being involved in an accident that their urban counterparts. The article was based on a study by the Texas Transportation Institute released Tuesday which shows, among other things that rural teens are more likely to:

• Drive in a car packed with several other teens
• Drive after 10 p.m.
• Talk on a cell phone or send text messages while driving
• Drive without a seat belt
• Speed and street race

This may be why 65 percent of teen driving fatalities in 2006 occurred on rural roads. According to Russell Henk of the transportation institute, higher speed limits on most rural roads, lack of congestion, and a feeling that “nothing is going to happen to me” creates a higher danger risk for urban teens.

Texas leads the nation in auto fatalities and about 500 Texas teens die in crashes each year. Teen drivers are also involved in 22 percent of the state’s car crashes.

The study by the Texas Transportation Institute was based on the driving habits of more than 4,400 teens from 17 high schools across the state and included an analysis of teens’ perceptions of factors that cause car wrecks and included the following findings:

• Fewer than 1 percent of Texas teens understand that driving at night is unsafe even though it is the most dangerous activity a driver can engage in.
• Only a third of teens recognize the dangers of driving while talking or texting on a cell phone.
• Rural teens were far less likely to name alcohol or drugs as a factor behind crashes than urban teens.
• Rural teens were three times more likely to get speeding tickets
• Rural teens were twice as likely to drive while using cell phones.

Technorati Tags: teen, driving, rural, risky behaviour

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