Child pedestrians: factors associated with ability to cross roads safely and development of a training package

This report presents the findings of a two-phased study: i) an experimental study addressing the impacts of functional performance, behaviour, traffic patterns and exposure to traffic on road-crossing skill amongst primary school children using a simulated road-crossing environment and parent survey; and ii) a training study aimed to firstly use this information to develop a targeted and practical training program aimed to teach good road-crossing skills, particularly amongst those who are at highest risk of crash involvement, and secondly, to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program in developing the appropriate functional and behavioural skills required to make safe road-crossing decisions. This study has identifiedat-risk' groups of child pedestrians and highlighted key functional and behavioural factors associated with poor road-crossing skill. The evaluation of the training program clearly shows a beneficial effect in improving road-crossing skills amongst 'at-risk' children. This training effect was sustained over a one-month period. The use of a simulated training program that targets the component skills of road-crossing decisions is a novel and safe way to improve essential skills and strategies to cross roads safely and has major implications for improvements to education and training programs for child pedestrian safety. (a)

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