Driveway accidents in New Zealand

The mortality rate from trauma to children in New Zealand may be relatively low compared with many developing nations, but when more appropriately compared with that of other OECD countries, New Zealand ranks the worst.1 Our ongoing record with driveway accidents represents a “blackspot ” in New Zealand’s attempts to create a safe environment for its children. It is to our shame that we have the highest reported rate of driveway accidents in the world. It is now almost 7 years since this journal2 published a report of 77 separate driveway accidents causing 6 deaths in a 4-year period in Auckland. Even then, the accompanying editorial3 lamented that New Zealand lagged behind some of its closest neighbours in developing effective accident prevention programmes for children, and as a result of this, predicted that it might be a long time before measures would be introduced to reduce the toll. Sadly, the article by Hsaio and colleagues4 in this issue of the NZMJ confirms that prediction to be correct: it would appear that nothing much has changed apart from another 93 children injured and a further 9 fatalities up until December 2005 in th