Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk of being hit by a vehicle when crossing a street, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The findings, published July 25, 2011, in Pediatrics, indicate that children with ADHD don’t process information as well as non-ADHD children and tend to make incorrect decisions on when to begin crossing a street to a greater extent than non-ADHD children. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, one of the leading causes of unintentional injury in middle childhood is pedestrian injury.

“The kids with ADHD in our study displayed the behaviors parents want to see – they stopped at the street and looked both ways. But that doesn’t mean they are ready to cross a street by themselves,” said the study’s first author,Despina Stavrinos, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UAB Injury Control Research Center.