[The pediatrician and traffic safety].

OBJECTIVE

To instruct children and teenagers about safe transportation and about their behavior as cyclists and pedestrians.

SOURCES OF DATA

The MEDLINE and LILACS databases were searched, using the following terms, from 1995 to 2005: traffic accidents, child, adolescent, morbidity, mortality, age, and gender. Scientific articles on morbidity and mortality from traffic accidents, children in a pedestrian situation, as cyclists or as motor vehicle passengers, were selected.

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS

More than 300 scientific articles were found, but only the studies that addressed those issues in a broad manner were selected.

CONCLUSIONS

Traffic-related mortality rates are still very high and show the necessity to intensify educational campaigns for community awareness, in addition to encouraging investments in effective pedestrian safety. The pediatrician s role is to decrease the number of children and adolescents who get involved in traffic accidents by providing them with traffic guidance and education.