The use of space by girls and boys: lessons from traffic accidents

Girls are less at risk in traffic than boys, in many countries. This article presents some examples of differential accident involvement of girls and boys, 0-19 years old, actively participating in traffic. Explanations for these differences are sought in the way girls and boys use public space, and in the meaning traffic has for them. A first remark concerns the problem of gathering data on differences between boys and girls, of different age groups, for different modes of transport, related to different exposure data. When data exist, and that is seldom the case, and are used in publications, they are hidden in percentages, ratios and figures. Therefore, comparisons are difficult to make. Casualties Table 1 presents Dutch figures on pedestrian and bicycle casualties. 185 Girls, 0-19 years of age, were killed, from 1989 to 1993, 2854 were treated in a hospital, and 10005 were slightly injured. The figures for boys are: 298, 4404, and 11805. In other words: 39% of all serious victims are girls, 61% boys. The difference between slightly injured girls and boys is smaller. GirlsBoysTotal N%N%N% Killed18538%29862%483100% Seriously I.285439%440461%7258100% Slightly I.1000546%1180554%21810100% Table 1. Killed, Seriously Injured (Seriously I.: hospital), and slightly injured (Slightly I.) girls and boys (0-19): pedestrians and bicyclists together, 1989-1993. Comparable figures are found in Britain and Germany. Boys experience more serious pedestrian and cycle accidents than girls in Britain. Twice as many boys as girls are involved (Avery and Jackson, 1993). Thirty two per cent of 0-18 year old traffic victims (passengers included) were girls, in West Germany in 1982 (Wittenberg et al., 1987). An explanation for differences in traffic accidents between girls and boys can be sought in a difference in their use of public space, but also in factors related to biological or psychological differences, factors possibly underlying the use of space