How speed affects pedestrian injuries in school zones

With summer starting to wind down, drivers must be ready for school buses to reappear in September.

Parents will once again be dropping off and picking up kids from school. There will be more pedestrian traffic and drivers have to be wary of little ones that dart out between parked cars.

These school-zones will soon be teeming with activity which is why speed limits will be back in full effect.

Speeding in a school zone can lead to substantial fines and demerit points. Ontario drivers can see fines ranging from $95 to $595 and up to four demerit points. Plus, injuries affect auto insurance policies, both on the liability side, and accident benefits.

Why and how are school zone speed limits determined? And what’s the science behind those numbers?

A pedestrian hit by a vehicle can experience the impact in several different ways:

• ‘Wrap trajectory’ -Where the person wraps onto the hood of the car before sliding off.
• ‘Forward projection’ - Where the pedestrian is pushed forward by the vehicle.

It all depends on the pedestrian’s height and the type of vehicle. For example, if a pedestrian’s centre of gravity (usually located around the belly button) is above the front edge of the vehicle, they’ll experience a wrap trajectory. If it’s below the front edge of the vehicle, they’ll be pushed forward.

This is why smaller children are often hit directly at the head, thorax or abdomen, while older teens and adults are more likely to be hit at their lower extremities.

Why Speed Matters

Research shows collisions with pedestrians are rare on roads with speed limits of 40 km/h or lower. Only about 15% of all vehicle-pedestrian collisions involving children aged 0 to 15 years happen on these roads.

However, this rate jumps to between 72% and 81% on roads with a 50 km/h speed limit, according to a Swedish study ‘Is 30 km/h a ‘safe’ speed?’

Posted speed limits don’t always match the actual impact speed, since drivers might be speeding or applying the brakes. And the lower frequency of collisions on 30 km/h and 40 km/h roads suggests vehicles travelling around those speeds are able to stop or slow down more quickly, the Swedish study found. That reduces the risk of collision.

On residential streets, the most common type of pedestrian collision involves a child running out in front of a moving vehicle. In the case of these dart-out accidents, the driver has little time to react.

If collisions take place at speeds below 30 km/h, research shows they’ll result primarily in slight injuries for children aged 0 to 14 years. But a U.S. study, ‘Relating severity of pedestrian injury to impact speed in vehicle-pedestrian crashes,’ found that for collisions at speeds above 40 km/h, serious injuries, including those leading to hospitalization, are more likely to occur.

Impact breakdowns

At impact speeds of 30 km/h, there’s about a 25% risk a child will sustain a serious injury; there’s a 75% chance the injuries will be slight.

When the impact speed is 40 km/h, there’s about a 50/50 chance the child will sustain either serious or slight injuries.

But if the vehicle’s speed reaches 50 km/h, the risk of serious injury jumps to around 75%, and there’s even a chance of fatal injuries.

The rising risk of severe injuries based on a driver’s speed is the reason why speed limits of 30 km/h or 40 km/h are typically enforced in school zones. They help protect child pedestrians.

Surprisingly, regardless of the reduced speed limit in these areas, a 2019 CAA poll found 70% of Canadians had witnessed speeding in school zones. What’s more, a U.S. National Institutes of Health study noted a staggering 50% to 90% of motorists still drive above the speed limit in school zones, increasing the risk to children.

Review the rules

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has numerous tips for drivers sharing the road with school buses.

When driving and a school bus approaches, motorists should watch if the bus slows and flashes its overhead amber lights. That signals the bus is coming to a stop to pick-up or drop-off passengers. Drivers are reminded to slow down and prepare to stop whether behind or approaching a bus.

If on a road with a median strip, only vehicles coming from behind the bus should prepare to stop.

It is dangerous and illegal to fail to stop.

For roads without a median (raised barrier between lanes), vehicles in both directions must stop when the bus is stopped and flashing its overhead red lights or its stop arm is activated:

• If driving behind the bus, stop at least 20 metres away
• If the school bus is facing you, stop at a safe distance to let children get on and off the bus and cross the road

For roads with a median, you must stop if driving in the same direction as the school bus when it is stopped. Vehicles coming from the opposite direction are not required to stop.

Before resuming to drive, wait for the bus to start moving without lights or stop arm activated.

Any driver that fails to follow these rules and drives past a school bus faces a stiff penalty. For a first offence, fines range from $400 to $2,000 and six demerit points. For each following offence, fines range from $1,000 to $4,000, plus six demerit points and possible jail time of up to six months.

And, if you lend someone your vehicle and they don’t stop for a school bus you’re not off the hook. The registered owner of a vehicle illegally passing a school bus that is caught by camera technology on a stop arm may be charged and fined.

Finally, if you see a vehicle that doesn't stop for a school bus you can file a local Road Watch Report. In order to do so, you need to be able to identify the licence plate of the driver. Alternatively, contact the local police department.

• With files from Canadian Underwriter