Pattern Of Child Pedestrian Collisions And Injuries In Malaysia

Child pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users. They are at high risk involving in road traffic collision. This present study is to highlights the magnitude of road safety problem amongst child pedestrians in Malaysia. In addition, the objective of this study is to determine the pattern of child pedestrian collisions and injuries during the period 2009 to 2012. Police records of reported child pedestrian collisions and injuries in Malaysia from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2012 were collected. The selected variables on demographic factors, injuries related to the child and crash site characteristics were extracted and analyzed. A total number of 2,243 child pedestrian casualties were reported accounted for 27.9% of all pedestrian casualties in 2009 to 2012. Over 4 years period of study, the greatest number of incidence crash consistently occurred in the state of Sabah. Most of the involved children were the young children, aged 5 to 10 years and boys most commonly involved. Majority of the victims belonged to the rural populations. The collisions were more likely occurred on the roadways with two-way traffic system with a posted speed limit of 50km/h. These findings may have important contributions to the improvement and development of road safety initiatives and interventions related to child pedestrian collision in Malaysia. Road safety strategies should be improved by introducing more targeted measures for high-risk groups based on variables that have been studied.