Child pedestrian fatalities in Diyarbakir, Turkey

OBJECTIVE: As there is an increase in modernization, transportation, unskilled, and drunk drivers, injuries from traffic accidents have taken on an epidemic form all over the world. The present study aims to describe the demographic data of childhood pedestrian fatalities in a large urban area in Turkey.

METHODS: The demographic data of childhood pedestrian fatalities in a large urban area in Turkey was described retrospectively, with respect to age, gender, injury pattern and location. Cases less than 16 years of age were collected retrospectively from the files of the Branch of the Council of Forensic Medicine in Diyarbakir between 1998 and 2003.

RESULTS: There were 232 childhood pedestrian fatalities among a total of 267 children involved in lethal traffic accidents. The mean age of the victims was 7.2 years, most of them being in the 6-10 years of age group (49.1%). Male predominated among our victims (76.3%). With regard to injury location, the most common site was the head (73.7%). There was an increase in pedestrian fatalities in the summer season (33.6%). There was no difference in rates of pedestrian deaths between years.

CONCLUSION: Child pedestrian deaths have constituted a significant percentage of all child fatalities due to traffic accidents in our region. There were 6.4 deaths per 100,000 populations, and this rate was also higher than in other populations.