The Central Coast has not fared well in a recently released report on national road fatalities involving children from 2001-2019.
The report, commissioned by the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation and the UNSW’s Transport and Road Safety Research Centre, gives an analysis of patterns of pedestrian fatalities involving children aged up to 14 recorded in the National Coronial Information System.
The Central Coast came in at eighth in a list of the top 20 local government areas in Australia for recorded fatalities in that age group.
The groundbreaking study, the first of its kind in Australia and covering nearly two decades, paints a grim picture of child road safety in regional and remote areas.
Road trauma is the leading cause of death for children aged one to 14 in Australia and Little Blue Dinosaur founder Michelle McLaughlin is urging extra vigilance around roads with the festive season sure to see increased traffic flow around the Central Coast.
McLaughlin and her husband David founded Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation to campaign for children’s road safety after the tragic loss of their four-year-old son Tom in a pedestrian road crash at Macmasters Beach in 2014.
She said through analysing and identifying trends identified in the report, better prevention strategies could be recommended and implemented to reduce child pedestrian fatalities.
“This is the largest study of its kind to date and is a crucial step towards understanding and reducing risks for child pedestrians on our roads,” she said.
“It can inform strategies for tackling the problem of child road trauma, particularly child pedestrian fatalities.
“There is a lack of awareness that the issue of child road trauma is as serious as it is across Australia.
“While there was a drop in fatal pedestrian incidents involving children in the early 2000s, there is little sign of further significant decline since then, so we must act on these findings to address this national crisis.”
Completed with support from the Commonwealth Road Safety Innovation Fund, the review discovered several significant patterns around the characteristics of child pedestrian fatality incidents.
Key findings included: younger children were involved in most incidents, with one-year-olds representing one-quarter of child pedestrian fatalities; over half of the fatalities were were aged four or under; and numbers of cases were lower from six to 12 years but increased for children aged 13 and 14.
The report found most child pedestrian fatalities occurred on roads (50.3 per cent) or in driveways (32.4 per cent), with driveway fatalities trending more towards very young children aged one to three.
Most of the child pedestrian crashes occurred because the child was in a location at the side of a road or in a driveway that made it hard for the driver to see or avoid them, or because they followed someone they knew into a hazardous location near a vehicle.
In the majority of cases, the driver reported being unaware that the child was in a vulnerable location close to their vehicle or they became aware too late to avoid a collision.
The most consistent factor contributing to road and driveway child pedestrian fatalities was inadequate supervision.
Emeritus Professor Ann Williamson, of the UNSW’s Transport and Road Safety Research Centre said the findings highlighted worrying patterns to fatalities and revealed the need for immediate action to address identified safety issues.
“We need an urgent review into strategies to reduce child pedestrian fatalities,” she said.
“Improvements are needed in road designs, including: signage, markings and lighting; designs of vehicles should be amended to improve all around visibility, not just when reversing, especially in larger vehicles such as SUVs, which were predominantly involved in carpark and driveway fatalities; driver awareness campaigns can play a key role in keeping child pedestrians safe; education for parents and carers is needed about the importance of active attention and direct supervision; and the fact that driveway fatalities involving child pedestrians remain persistently high, with no evidence of a reduction over the study period, is justification for quick measures.”
McLaughlin said more traffic on our roads over the Christmas season would increase the risk of incidents.
“Our aim is to prevent other children falling victim to the same tragic fate as our beautiful boy Tom,” she said.
“The report suggests that if direct supervision, especially involving physical contact, is maintained, child pedestrian fatalities can be avoided.
“So please, hold children’s hands around roadways and driveways.
“Older children should also be encouraged to reduce distractions, pay attention to their surroundings and, where possible, cross at pedestrian crossings or traffic lights.”
Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation has been working on community education and effective road safety initiatives (including distinctive signage around playgrounds and busy roads) since 2014, with the program launched on the Central Coast in March this year.