This groundbreaking study , the first of its kind in Australia and covering nearly two decades , paints a grim picture of child road safety in rural and remote areas .

Highlighting the urgency of the issue , the research discloses that over 1,000 fatal traffic injury incidents involving under 15-year-olds were reported over 19 years . This staggering statistic sets the stage for the dire reality faced by children in rural and remote areas .

Report findings :

- Hawkesbury secured its position on the list of NSW ’ s top 20 LGAs with the highest number of total incidents , claiming the 7th spot .

- A staggering 36 per cent and 53 per cent of these fatal crashes in regional and remote areas lack a counterpart ( for example , another vehicle ), emphasising unique road safety challenges .

- Despite an overall drop in cases in major cities and inner regional areas , there is a noticeable lack of change in outer regional and remote / very remote areas .

- In remote areas , a vast majority of incidents involve the deceased travelling in a light vehicle , constituting 53 per cent in inner regional and 44 per cent in outer regional areas .

- Collisions with light vehicles dominate as the most frequent counterpart in both inner regional ( 34 per cent ) and outer regional ( 34 per cent ) areas . The research also sheds light on hidden dangers : many fatalities occur on

familiar roads close to home , highlighting the critical need for constant vigilance and education .

As we are well into the holiday season urgent action is needed . The Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation is actively working to reduce child road fatalities in regional and rural areas and create a safer environment for families travelling during the holidays . It ’ s Australia ’ s heartbreaking legacy , road trauma is the leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 14 in this country . On average , one child is killed in a road crash in Australia every week . Most deaths of children in land and transport crashes in Australia ( 59 per cent ) occur when they are passengers or bystanders , but a significant percentage ( 29 per cent ) occur when children are pedestrians . Between 2001-2019 , 439 children aged 0 to 14 years were killed in a pedestrian road trauma incident .

A new study from Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation and UNSW ’ s Transport and Road Safety Research Centre is aiming to address these concerning statistics with an investigation into the factors that lead to child pedestrian fatalities .

Looking at almost two decades of data patterns from the National Coronial Information System ( NCIS ) the report has identified common trends in the circumstances and causes of fatal pedestrian crashes involving children aged 0 to 14 years in Australia .

Aussie mum Michelle McLaughlin ( pictured ) is the driving force behind the report . She and husband David founded

Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation to campaign for children ’ s road safety after the tragic loss of their four-year-old son , Tom in a pedestrian road crash in 2014 . Michelle says that through analysing and identifying these trends , better prevention strategies can be recommended and implemented to reduce child pedestrian fatalities .

“ This is the largest study of its kind to date , and is a crucial step towards understanding and reducing risks for child pedestrians on our roads . It can inform strategies for tackling the problem of child road trauma , particularly child pedestrian fatalities ,” she said .

“ There is a lack of awareness that the issue of child road trauma is as serious as it is across Australia . While there was a drop in fatal pedestrian incidents involving children in the early 2000s , there is little sign of further significant decline since then , so we must act on these findings to address this national crisis .”

Completed with support from the Commonwealth Road Safety Innovation Fund , the review discovered several significant patterns around the characteristics of child pedestrian fatality incidents .

Key findings include :

- Younger children were involved in most incidents , with 1-year-olds representing one-quarter of child pedestrian fatalities .

- Over half of the fatalities were 4 years old or under .

- Numbers of cases were lower from 6

to 12 years but increased for children aged 13 and 14 .

- When it comes to location , most child pedestrian fatalities occurred on roads ( 50.3 %) or in driveways ( 32.4 %), with age of the child a major influence on location .

- Driveway pedestrian fatality numbers trended more towards very young children aged 1 to 3 years , with 84 % of fatalities involving 1-year-olds , 66.7 % of children under 1 and around one-third of fatalities of 2- and 3-year-olds being in driveways

- 87.3 % of pedestrian fatalities involving 11- to 14-year-olds occurred on the road , with numbers increasing with age and two-thirds involving children aged 13 and 14 .

- Driveway fatalities remained around the same level for the 19-year study period and even showed a slight increasing trend from 2003 to 2019 .

- Most of the child pedestrian crashes occurred because the child was in a location at the side of a road or in a driveway that made it hard for the driver to see or avoid them , or because they followed someone they knew into a hazardous location near a vehicle .

- In the majority of cases , the driver reported being unaware that the child was in a vulnerable location close to their vehicle or they became aware too late to avoid a collision .

- The most consistent factor contributing to road and driveway child pedestrian fatalities was inadequate supervision .