Driveway injuries in children: risk factors, morbidity, and mortality

Injuries that occur around the driveway are not typically regarded as reportable to the police and thus are often underrecognized. The aim of this study was to characterize the pattern and consequences of motor vehicle collisions that occur in the driveway.

Over the past 13 years, 64 patients admitted to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh sustained motor vehicle-related injuries in a driveway. These injuries resulted from a vehicle driven by an adult driver striking a child (group 1) or a child shifting an idle vehicle out of gear (group 2). We compared demographic variables and outcome measures between the 2 groups.

There was no difference in gender, injury pattern, Injury Severity Score, length of stay, or operations performed between the groups. Patients in group 1 were younger, smaller, had a lower Glasgow Coma Scale, and had poorer outcomes. The majority of collisions (~65%) in group 1 resulted from a truck or sport-utility vehicle going in reverse.

Younger children are more severely injured in driveway-related crashes, which are most likely to be caused by a truck or sport-utility vehicle going in reverse. These vehicles should be equipped with additional safety features such as extended mirrors to visualize small children.