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Hazards of Safety: Transportation Externalities and the Rights of Children

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Risk, Protection, Provision and Policy

Part of the book series: Geographies of Children and Young People ((GCYP,volume 12))

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Abstract

Motor vehicle transport has had an important role in defining the form and use of the modern urban landscape, but its impacts on children and their use of space are particularly profound. Children lack legal and practical authority over motorized transportation systems and yet are subject to the direct harms it produces – such as the risk of getting injured or killed in a collision.

The modern response to these risks has been a sheltering of children from harm rather than a substantive alteration of the landscape, which may have long-term impacts on child health and development. Furthermore, the risk and perception of risk present several important challenges. Children from low-income families spend more time in these environments, which in the absence of substantial improvements in pedestrian safety puts them at greater risk of harm than other children. The risks of harm are geographically segmented, with heavy traffic not only spatially concentrated but where the source of the traffic is often displaced from the “sink.”

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, L8S4K1, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Niko Yiannakoulias

  2. Faculty of Science, McMaster University, 1280 Main St W, L8S 4L8, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Niko Yiannakoulias

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  1. Niko Yiannakoulias
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Correspondence to Niko Yiannakoulias .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Claire Freeman

  2. School of Physical, Environmental and Ma, University of New South Wales Canberra, Canberra BC, Australia

    Paul Tranter

  3. Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Tracey Skelton

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Yiannakoulias, N. (2015). Hazards of Safety: Transportation Externalities and the Rights of Children. In: Freeman, C., Tranter, P., Skelton, T. (eds) Risk, Protection, Provision and Policy. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-99-6_7-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-99-6_7-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-4585-99-6

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