Reuters: Children risk serious injuries on golf carts
By Carolyn Crist
Golf cart crashes involving children can result in serious injuries, a new study confirms.
Researchers found that children as young as nine years old were driving golf carts, often not wearing seat belts, and faced the risk of the cart overturning.
Non-automobile vehicles - like ATVs, go-karts, golf carts and others – “are often viewed as harmless or safe by parents and communities,” study coauthor Joseph Starnes told Reuters Health by email. “This is especially true for golf carts, which tend to be slower.”
Yet of nearly 150,000 golf cart injuries in the U.S. between 1990 and 2006, about a third involved children under age 16, according to a 2008 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Children who are injured in golf cart accidents have a significant risk of neurological injury. This again speaks to the need for prevention: Head injuries are serious and most times can be prevented.
Read the full article via Reuters.
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