Dying young in traffic

and 1979, 226 of which were caused by traffic accidents. The annual incidence of these fatal traffic accidents has risen steadily since the early 1960s with boys being consistently more vulnerable. Fatal accidents were disproportionately higher among socially deprived families and in poorer areas of the city. The environment rather than the child may be 'accident prone ' and there is an urgent need for safer play areas in deprived areas. Accidents are the most common cause of death among children aged 1 to 15 years in developed countries and follow only gastrointestinal and res-piratory infections as the third most common cause of death in the developing world. ' 2 These deaths occur principally in healthy children who might have been expected to have had a productive life. In contrast with deaths from natural causes, accident deaths have shown no decline over time but 'epidemiological information on child pedestria