Children Plus All Nonautomobile Motorized Vehicles (Not Just All-Terrain Vehicles) Equals Injuries

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. The goals were to describe the epidemiological features of pediatric nonautomobile motorized vehicle–related injuries sustained between 1990 and 2003 and to compare all-terrain vehicle–related injuries with other types of nonautomobile motorized vehicle–related injuries. METHODS. An analysis of nationally representative pediatric nonautomobile motorized vehicle–related injury data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was performed. RESULTS. Nationally, an estimated 1203800 children were treated in hospital emergency departments for nonautomobile motorized vehicle–related injuries between 1990 and 2003. These children had a mean age of 12.7 years (range: 1 month to 19 years), and 77.0% were male. The majority of injuries were associated with all-terrain vehicles (44.8%), 2-wheeled off-road vehicles (21.1%), and go-carts/buggies (13.7%). The most common diagnoses were contusions/abrasions (28.3%), fractures (24.2%), and lacerations (20.0%). Overall, the number of injuries increased 86% from 70500 injuries in 1990 to 130900 injuries in 2003. The numbers of all-terrain vehicle–related, 2-wheeled off-road vehicle–related, 2-wheeled on-road vehicle–related, and go-cart/buggy-related injuries all increased significantly from 1990 to 2003. There were greater proportions of all-terrain vehicle-associated injuries among children ≥16 years of age (48.0%) and children 12 to 15 years of age (46.6%) than among children <12 years of age (40.3%). Conversely, the proportion of other nonautomobile motorized vehicle–related injuries among children <12 years of age (47.2%) was greater than that among children 12 to 15 years of age (30.3%) and children ≥16 years of age (23.0%). CONCLUSIONS. Although most public health and legislative attention to date has been focused on all-terrain vehicles, parents, children, and public officials should be educated about the injury risk that all types of nonautomobile motorized vehicles pose to children.