Research conducted in the Netherlands indicates that the high proportion of serious and fatal accidents involving young children is not a reflection of their attitudes to risk taking.
Studies show that young adolescents do increase their risk taking behaviour, for example, by using alcohol or smoking. However, in relation to road safety, research suggests inexperience can play a part when assessing risk. The tests performed took into account blind spot situations, for example, cycling behind a lorry; as well as other traffic situations. The results from the studies indicate that when in blind spot situations young adolescents make decisions that increase the chances of them not being seen. The more complicated the traffic scenario, the worse the participants in the tests performed. The reduction in performance when confronted with more complex traffic scenarios suggests that risky decision making in young adolescents can stem from lack of experience, as opposed to unsafe attitudes to risk.
Statistics also show that children up to 15 years old form a disproportionately high percentage of pedestrian casualties. Globally, pedestrian accidents are the third leading cause of deaths for 5 to 9 year olds. One piece of research into these statistics is centred on schoolchildren and adults, who were subjected to a number of visual tests. In the tests, computer simulations of vehicles approaching at differing speeds were presented to assess road crossing judgment. The testing also varied to assess the difference between the images being seen in participant’s central vision as well as just outside central vision. The results revealed that adults performed significantly better than children. An important finding was that whilst adults could reliably detect vehicles approaching at speeds close to 40mph, children across all ages could only reliably detect vehicles travelling at a speed approximately below 25mph.
The conclusions reached were that a child’s brain is not sufficiently developed to be able to perceive the risks associated with approaching traffic. As a result of these perceptual limitations children are at a greater risk of stepping out in front of cars that are travelling at higher speeds. These risks apply equally to children of secondary school level, who may wrongly be considered to have mastered road safety.
Our Partner, Steve Baylis, specialises in catastrophic injuries and has a particular interest in brain injuries and child accidents as a result of road traffic accidents.
