Injury Prevention Bulletin: 700,000+ Children Killed In Accidents Worldwide Each Year
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an international bulletin concerning child injuries and fatalities. Left unprotected, or under-protected, our children are at real risk for suffering serious personal injuries, debilitating diseases, and even death. A new World Health Organization and Unicef report has concluded that more than 700,000 children lose their lives in accidents worldwide yearly. While many of the findings are not as relevant in the United States, due to our more advanced medical and health systems, children are still at great risk from accidents ranging from automobile accidents, especially those where the child is not in a properly installed booster or infant car seat. More than all childhood diseases combined, accidents account for the greatest number of childrens’ deaths in the U.S. each year. The top contributors cited in the report as responsible for the approximately 12,175 childrens’ deaths in the U.S. each year are: Car crashes and drowning,
The single most challenging aspect of this report’s conclusion is what to do about it. Ilean Arias of the U.S. CDC has the following suggestions to best reduce the U.S. contribution to that enormous number: 1) use a graduated drivers’ license; 2) limit the times during which young drivers can operate a car; 3) limit the number of occupants in a car driven by a new driver, and 3) require all children under the age of 8 to use a booster seat. Connecticut already has laws that specifically address each of these methods of reducing the risk to our children. Connecticut has a six/sixty rule requiring boosters until the age of six AND reaching sixty pounds; Connecticut also already restricts the times during which new drivers can drive: daylight hours at first, then later times progressively. The laws severely restrict the times during which any passenger can be in the car, especially during the first few months having a license . For new drivers, they can have no passengers other than someone over eighteen, and only during the day. That restriction eases as the driver gains experience and where there is a legitimate reason for a young driver to be on the road, such as for work.
Bicycle helmet requirements, no-checking by young hockey players, and careful design, construction and maintenance of playgrounds round out the list for the U.S. and Canada. For the full details, see the report at World Health Organization’s website
Connecticut's Bicycle Helmet Law:
Connecticut General Statute Section 14-286d (b) No child FIFTEEN years of age OR UNDER shall operate a bicycle on the traveled portion of any highway unless such child is wearing protective headgear which conforms to the minimum specifications established by the American National Standards Institute or the Snell Memorial Foundation's Standard for Protective Headgear for Use in Bicycling. Failure to comply with this section shall not be a violation or an offense. Failure to wear protective headgear as required by this subsection shall not be considered to be contributory negligence on the part of the parent or the child nor shall such failure be admissible in any civil action.
