Trends in child pedestrian motor vehicle collision injury rates by neighborhood deprivation score in Toronto, Canada

Abstract

We examined trends from 2000 to 2019 in child pedestrian motor vehicle collision (PMVC) injury rates in Toronto, Canada, to see if injury trends varied by neighbourhood deprivation. This 20-year period was associated with major road safety policy changes in the City. A Poisson regression analysis examined police-reported data on children (age 1–19 years), killed or seriously injured (KSI) PMVC rates, by deprivation status (using the Ontario Marginalization Index), over the period 2000–2019. Models controlled for location (urban core v. inner suburbs) and evaluated potential interactions. There were 523 child pedestrian KSI collisions from 2000 to 2019. Over this period, KSI rates decreased by more than 50 % across all neighbourhood deprivation levels. Steep declines from 2000 to 2010 were followed by level or increasing child PMVC rates from 2010 to 2019. Higher deprivation was associated with slightly elevated KSI rates; although not statistically significant. It is important to learn from road safety policy “successes” and ensure that future road safety interventions are applied equitably across areas, accounting for deprivation and location.

Keywords

• Social inequalities in health
• Road injury
• Child and youth
• Trends