Driveway-related child pedestrian injuries: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES To examine risk factors for driveway-related child pedestrian injuries. DESIGN A community based case-control study. SETTING The Auckland region of New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS Cases (n = 53) were children killed or hospitalized as a result of a driveway-related pedestrian injury, in the Auckland region over a period of 2 years and 2 months. Controls (n = 159) were an age-matched random sample of the child population of the Auckland region. RESULTS The absence of physical separation of the driveway from the children's play area was associated with a threefold increase in the risk of driveway-related child pedestrian injury (OR = 3.50; 95% CI 1.38, 8.92). Children living in homes with shared driveways were also at significantly increased risk (OR = 3.24; 95% CI 1.22, 8.63). The population attributable risk associated with the absence of physical separation of the driveway from the children's play area was 50.0% (95% CI 24.7, 75.3). CONCLUSION The fencing of residential driveways as a strategy for the prevention of driveway-related child pedestrian injuries deserves further attention.