Children's exposure to traffic and pedestrian injuries.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate children's exposure to traffic (number of streets crossed) and to determine the role of exposure in pedestrian injury.

Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to a random sample of 4080 first- and fourth-grade children in 43 Montreal schools.

Results: When analyzed by police district, injury and exposure rates were positively correlated (r2 = 0.53). Crossings were similar by sex but increased with age and were inversely related to socioeconomic status.

Conclusions: These results suggest that although children's exposure to traffic could be reduced by transporting them to school, a more reasonable prevention strategy involves environmental changes.