The Influences of Demographics and Individual Differences on Children’s Selection of Risky Pedestrian Routes

Objective Thousands of American children under the age of 10 are injured annually as pedestrians. Despite the scope of this public health problem, knowledge about behavioral factors involved in the etiology of child pedestrian injury remains sparse. The present study considered the roles of age, gender, ethnicity, family income, and inhibitory control on children’s selection of safe pedestrian routes. Methods Children’s selections of risky pedestrian routes were examined in two laboratory analogue tasks. Multiple behavioral and self-report methods were used to measure temperamental inhibitory control. Results Children from lower-income families, children of ethnic minority background, younger children, and those with less temper-amental control selected riskier pedestrian routes. Conclusions Prevention efforts might be tailored to focus on children at higher risk for pedestrian injury, such as younger, under-controlled children. Key words child injury; inhibitory control; pedestrian safety; route selection. Each year, approximately 18,000 American child pedes-trians under the age of 10 are injured and over 400 are killed (National Center for Injury Prevention and Con