4.2 Cycling injuries to children
SUBMISSION
Next 4.3 Australian cycling safety 2015
Cycling road fatalities are not all that common but injuries certainly are. Navigating roads in cities is a constant challenge for vulnerable road users, including cyclists and pedestrians. The old and young are particularly at risk. We want to reduce cycling injuries on the road and especially for our children.
“There are ways to reduce injuries in kids that don’t involve wrapping them in cotton wool” (The Conversation, 16/6/2017) has a breakdown of children’s injuries, including those due to cycling.
“The authors looked at data from 2002-2012 where there were over 680,000 injury-related hospitalisations for kids (aged under 16) across Australia, caused mostly by falls and transport-related injuries.”
There are ways to reduce injuries in kids that don’t involve wrapping them in cotton wool, The Conversation, 16/6/2017
There were 37,382 injuries to cyclists for children under 16 years of age between 2002-2012 with a total hospital costs of $130 million. Transport injuries make up 13.7% of all injuries and cycling injuries for children is the most common cause.
“Pedal cyclists ($131 million) and motor vehicle occupants ($126million) represented the costliest type of transport incidents for children.”
There are ways to reduce injuries in kids that don’t involve wrapping them in cotton wool, The Conversation, 16/6/2017
“Injury prevention measures aimed at reducing injuries to pedal cyclists include introducing environmental changes, such as traffic calming methods like speed bumps to slow vehicle speed, creating mechanisms to separate pedal cyclists from vehicles, such as cycle pathways, and increasing a child’s road safety knowledge and traffic skills.”
There are ways to reduce injuries in kids that don’t involve wrapping them in cotton wool, The Conversation, 16/6/2017
Wearing a helmet also helps, protecting the cyclist from both head and facial injuries.
“Road transport injuries were most common for children aged 11-16 years (17.8%) compared to those aged 6-10 years (12.3%) and those aged less than five years (4.5%).”
There are ways to reduce injuries in kids that don’t involve wrapping them in cotton wool, The Conversation, 16/6/2017
Investment in cycling infrastructure can be justified in cost-benefit studies on health benefits. It makes sense with hospital costs of $130 million alone just for children between 2002 to 2012.
We do not want to be injured cycling or see our loved ones injured, particularly our children. There can hardly be a better argument for increased funding in the ACT Budget for infrastructure that keeps vulnerable road users safe. Unfortunately, the funding has been low.