Xuesong Wang,Li Wang,Paul J.Tremont
Abstract:Intersection crossing crashes are a serious problem for children in China and other countries. The objective of the study is to provide a better understanding of the relationships between children’s intersection crossing knowledge and behavior to enable improvements to traffic safety education and to children’s safety as they walk to and from school. The authors administered a questionnaire to 225 primary school children aged 6-12 to assess their knowledge of crossing rules, self-reported crossing behavior, and they acquired 2 hours of video recordings of children’s observed crossing behavior from the same primary school as they crossed a busy intersection. They found there was large discrepancy between observed intersection behavior and knowledge of crossing rules according to gender and differed depending on whether they crossed with adults, with classmates or alone. Also significant differences existed between observed intersection behavior and the self-reported crossing behavior. One specific gender difference was that girls’ behavior of looking both ways before crossing was better than boys’. The authors also found that when children crossed intersections alone, their behavior was generally better than when they crossed with classmates or with adults in performing risky behaviors. While they found no significant differences between children’s knowledge of crossing rules and their self-reported crossing behavior. A further observation was that when children were accompanied by adults, the authors observed the highest frequencies of crossing against the light. However, in spite of these gender differences in behavior, they found no significant gender differences with respect to knowledge of crossing rules. The weakness in the association between intersection crossing knowledge and behavior found in this study suggests that it is not enough to teach children knowledge that describes proper behavior for keeping safe in traffic. Children should also be directly taught the proper behaviors for keeping safe in traffic, preferably in the actual setting where they will be performed. Other countermeasures recommended include educating both children and adults on proper intersection crossing behavior, and emphasizing training for boys to improve their crossing skills. Some ways to implement these recommendations are considered in the discussion of this study’s findings