To instruct children and teenagers about safe transportation and about their behavior as cyclists and pedestrians.The MEDLINE and LILACS databases were searched, using the following terms, from 1995 to 2005: traffic accidents, child, adolescent, morbidity, mortality, age, and gender. Scientific articles on morbidity and mortality from traffic accidents, children in a pedestrian situation, as cyclists or as motor vehicle passengers, were selected.More than 300 scientific articles were found, but only the studies that addressed those issues in a broad manner were selected.Traffic-related mortality rates are still very high and show the necessity to intensify educational campaigns for community awareness, in addition to encouraging investments in effective pedestrian safety. The pediatrician s role is to decrease the number of children and adolescents who get involved in traffic accidents by providing them with traffic guidance and education.