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About the Issue of Child Pedestrian Safety
In recent years, the traffic-related pedestrian death rate among children ages 14 and under has declined significantly. In large part, this decline can be attributed to decreased traffic exposure, as children are walking less often.
However, pedestrian injury remains the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14, claiming the lives of 599 children in 2003 alone. In 2004, more than 38,400 children were treated in emergency rooms for pedestrian-related injuries.
While the majority of pedestrian deaths and injuries are traffic-related, children from birth to age 2 are more likely to suffer non-traffic-related pedestrian injuries, including those 
occurring in driveways, in parking lots and on sidewalks.
Although pedestrian injuries are not as common as motor vehicle occupant injuries, a disproportionate number of the injuries sustained by child pedestrians are severe.
Children are particularly vulnerable to pedestrian death because they are exposed to traffic threats that exceed their cognitive, developmental, behavioral, physical and sensory abilities. This is exacerbated by the fact that parents often overestimate their children’s pedestrian skills.
Children are impulsive and have difficulty judging speed, spatial relations, and distance. Auditory and visual acuity, depth perception and proper scanning ability develop gradually and do not fully mature until at least age 10.
Resources
Safe Kids Walk This Way © Copyright 2007