Paediatric off-road vehicle injury in rural and regional Australia.

Abstract

Off-road riding of quad bikes and motorcycles is common among children across rural and remote Australia, but is a significant source of injury and hospitalisation. An in-depth analysis of paediatric off-road vehicle crashes was undertaken to inform injury prevention countermeasures by characterising injury patterns and sources of injury. This is a prospective in-depth case series. Participants are children aged 16 and under who have been hospitalised due to injury sustained from the use of an off-road motorcycle or quad bike in New South Wales, Australia. Crash investigation techniques (medical data, structured interview, vehicle and crash site inspection) were used to ascertain details of the crash event, protective gear, injury information and contributory factors. Thirty children were recruited, 27 boys and 3 girls, ranging in age from 4 to 16years, having crashed on off-road motorcycles (n=27) or quads (n=3). Most (73.3%) were participating in unstructured social riding. A total of 67 separate injuries were observed, with overall Injury Severity Scores between 1 and 35. There were high rates of wearing helmets and motorcycle-specific garments. The most commonly injured areas were the upper and lower extremities. The most common sources of injury were from impacting the ground, obstacles/other riders or the vehicle. This study demonstrates the patterns of riding and injury in rural paediatric off-road vehicle riders, occurring despite high rates of helmet/protective gear use. This underscores the need for investigation into the injury mitigation and fit properties of protective gear and the inherent risks for physically and developmentally maturing children.