P3.L230: Traffic Collisions in Los Angeles County: The Role of Vehicle Types in Pediatric Morbidity and Mortality

Background: Motor Vehicle Collisions (MVC) are a leading cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality in the US. Previous studies suggest that larger vehicles cause higher mortality and morbidity to pediatric pedestrians, but no study has simultaneously examined the burden of both pedestrian and occupant injuries by vehicle type. This study explores the impact of vehicle type on pediatric mortality and morbidity in Los Angeles County (2017-2022) in pedestrian injuries and vehicle occupant injuries.

Methods: We utilized data from the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (2017-2022), providing a study population of 3,635 pediatric pedestrian and 72,210 pediatric occupant victims. We examined “serious injury” and “death” incidence among these victims, categorizing data by the four most common vehicle types (passenger cars, sport utility vehicle (SUV), pickup-trucks, minivans) and by age group (Child < 13, Teen 13-18, Adult >18). Serious injuries defined as those involving severe laceration, broken extremities, crush injuries, significant burns, unconsciousness, and paralysis. Negative binomial regression calculated the adjusted odds ratio for mortality and morbidity by vehicle type association. We adjusted the data for driver age, sex, race, and driving under influence, seatbelt use, and rear seating.

Results: During the study period, 47 (1.1%) pediatric pedestrians and 95 (0.13%) pediatric passengers died. There were similar trends in morbidity and mortality between Child and Teen age groups. For pediatric pedestrians, mortality rates were highest by SUVs (2.2%) and lowest by passenger cars (0.8%); serious injury rates were highest by pickup-trucks (18.5%) and lowest by minivans (10.0%). For pediatric occupants, mortality rates were highest in passenger cars (0.16%) and lowest in minivans (0.08%); serious injury rates were highest in passenger cars (0.91%) and lowest in minivans (0.31%). Adjusted odds ratio revealed pedestrians injured by SUVs had a higher mortality rate and those injured by pickup-trucks had a higher serious injury risk. For occupants, there were no mortality differences, but those in pickup-trucks and minivans had a lower serious injury risk.
See Table 1 and Table 2 for complete details.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that vehicles like SUVs and pickup-trucks pose a higher risk of mortality and morbidity to pediatric pedestrians, while pediatric occupants are at highest mortality risk in passenger cars. Our study also suggests that while there were no differences in mortality, occupants in pick-up trucks and minivans have lower risk of serious injury. This study may potentially be limited by the study population and the relatively low pediatric victims for certain vehicle types. Thus, future research should validate these findings in larger generalized datasets, which may guide consumer and policymaker decisions regarding the mode of transport to best reduce the burden of motor vehicle injury in children and adolescents.