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Background This study aimed to determine whether, amongst children, School Street schemes: (1) increase active travel, (2) improve satisfaction and perception of safety crossing their school street; and (3) how they are perceived more broadly by children. Methods We recruited four intervention (School Street) and four control primary schools in Bradford, UK. Children aged 8–11 years completed a bespoke questionnaire at baseline, 4–6 weeks (T1), and one year (T2) after the intervention. Children in intervention schools were asked about their perceptions of the intervention. We used a difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the effect of the intervention on active travel, perceptions of the school road, and feelings of safety crossing the school road, with effects estimated for each intervention school separately and then pooled. Content analysis was conducted on free-text responses. Results One intervention school withdrew and was excluded. In the remaining seven schools, 942 children at Baseline, 629 at T1, and 608 at T2 had complete data for control variables. The intervention was associated with (i) a decrease in the probability of active travel on survey day of -0.11 percentage points at T1 (95% confidence intervals -0.20, -0.02; p  = 0.02) and -0.18 percentage points at T2 (-0.27, -0.09; p  < 0.001); (ii) a decrease of -0.96 in the number of weekly active trips at T2 (-1.72, -0.20; p  = 0.01); and (iii) no change in the number of frequent active travellers (≥ 3 days/week). No differences were found in children's satisfaction or perception of safety. Qualitative analysis identified three themes, School Streets: (i) increased feelings of solidarity to protect children; (ii) improved perceptions of safety by reducing vehicles outside schools; (iii) children perceived barriers to car travel. Conclusion We saw very limited evidence that School Streets affected children’s perceptions of feeling safe, liking their school road, identifying themselves as frequent active travellers; there was some evidence for reductions in self-reported active travel. A novel finding is the sense of solidarity and community cohesion that School Streets elicits. A greater understanding of the theory of change and how the intervention works in different areas and affects different groups is required.

Road traffic injuries (RTI) impose a substantial health burden among children. Globally, 186 300 children (under 18 years) die from RTI each year. It is the fourth leading cause of death among children aged 5–9 years, third among children aged 10–14 years and first among children aged 15–17 years. At the regional level, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 35.2% of global child deaths caused by RTI; that number is still increasing. Male children are about two times more likely to die due to RTI than female children. RTI are also related to socioeconomic inequalities; low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC) account for 95% of global child RTI deaths, and children from poor households are more likely to fall victims to RTI. Intervention strategies promoted in the five pillars of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 are available to prevent mortality and morbidity caused by RTI, though validation and implementation of such interventions are urgently needed in the LMIC. Through concerted efforts to cultivate strong political will, build action and advocacy capacity, increase global funding and enhance multisectoral collaboration promoted by the Sustainable Development Goals, the world is challenged to do better in saving children from RTI.

In Pakistan, implementing road safety education (RSE) initiatives is vital in tackling the concerning rates of road accidents. Since parents and teachers are crucial in moulding children’s road safety behaviours, this study investigated the perspectives of parents and teachers regarding the acceptability of RSE programs in Pakistan. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative data from questionnaires (n = 63 teachers, n = 97 parents) with qualitative insights from interviews (five teachers, four parents). The study reveals significant gaps in RSE implementation across educational levels (i.e., primary, secondary, and high school), with not even half of the teachers reporting dedicated RSE programs in their curriculum, majorly in secondary and high schools. Both parents and teachers express dissatisfaction with current RSE effectiveness, highlighting a critical need for improvement. Key barriers to RSE implementation include cultural norms, inadequate infrastructure, and limited teacher training. However, the study also identifies a strong interest from parents and teachers in participating in effective RSE programs. Parents favour a mixed approach to RSE delivery, combining online and physical formats, and prefer short, frequent sessions for their children. The research underscores the need for a multidimensional RSE approach, addressing educational content, societal perceptions, and infrastructure improvements. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and educators to enhance RSE and improve children’s road safety knowledge in Pakistan.

It was hypothesized that practical training is effective in improving children's pedestrian skills because adult scaffolding and peer discussion during training specifically promote E3 level representation (linguistically‐encoded, experientially‐grounded, generalizable knowledge), as defined by Karmiloff‐Smith's (1992) representational redescription (RR) model. Two studies were conducted to examine in detail the impact of this social input in the context of simulation‐based training in roadside search skills. A group of 5–8‐year‐olds were pre‐tested on ability to detect relevant road‐crossing features. They then participated in four training sessions designed to promote attunement to these, under peer discussion versus adult guidance conditions (Study 1), and adult–child versus adult–group conditions (Study 2). Performance at post‐test was compared with that of controls who underwent no training. Study 1 found that children in the adult guidance condition improved significantly more than those in the peer discussion or control conditions, and this improvement was directly attributable to appropriation of E3 level representations from adult dialogue. Study 2 found that progress was greater still when adult scaffolding was supplemented by peer discussion, with E3 level representation attributable to the children's exploration of conflicting ideas. The implications of these findings for the RR model and for practical road safety education are discussed.

New Zealand schools may implement school traffic safety programmes such as assisted road crossings. Within New Zealand's neo-liberal educational framework, these initiatives require collaboration between the school and associated agencies such as city councils and parents. In this research we examined the experiences of school representatives in creating such a road crossing. A qualitative research approach was used. Semi-structured interviews were held with key members of the school community. Email correspondence, document analysis, and the researcher's reflexive diary were also data sources. The data were analysed via a general inductive approach to identify categories and themes from the data. After 18 months of pursuing the assisted road crossing, the school was unable to proceed with it. We found that a combination of competing priorities, unclear partnership processes, and lack of parent involvement was exacerbated by the neo-liberal environment. Ideas for future research are presented.

Objectives—The purpose of this study was to use geographic information system (GIS) software to locate areas of high risk for child pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in the city of Long Beach and to compare risk factors between midblock and intersection collisions. Methods—Children 0–14 years of age involved in a motor vehicle versus pedestrian collision that occurred on public roadways in Long Beach, CA, between 1 January 1992 and 30 June 1995, were identified retrospectively from police reports. The GIS software program, ArcView, was used for spatial analysis and distance calculations. χ2 Tests were used to compare the distribution of the characteristics between intersection and midblock collisions. Results—The average annual incident and fatality rate was 183.3/100 000 children/year and 2.4/100 000 children/year, respectively. Children less than 5 years of age were significantly more likely to be hit at a midblock location while those aged 5–9 and 10–14 were more often hit at an intersection. Intersection collisions were more likely to occur on major arterials and local streets, and the driver to be the primary party at fault (p<0.001). While intersection incidents tended to occur further from the child's home (64.4%) the majority of midblock incidents (61.5%) occurred within 0.1 miles of the child's residence. For both midblock and intersection locations, pedestrian collisions tended to occur more frequently in those census tracts with a larger number of families per census tract—a measure of household crowding and density. Conclusions—Future studies taking into consideration traffic volume and vehicle speed would be useful to focus prevention efforts such as environmental modifications, improving police enforcement, and educational efforts targeted at parents of younger children. As GIS illustrative spatial relationships continue to improve, relationships between pedestrian collision sites and other city landmarks can advance the study of pedestrian incidents.

Young children are more at risk of traffic pedestrian accidents than adults. Previous experiments have failed to show large differences between adults and children in crossing behaviour. The reasons for this are not clear, but it could be that some children are more at risk than others, because of individual differences. These differences have been difficult to investigate in the past. This paper examines a double video technique developed to solve the problems. Two groups of participants, children and adults (mean age 7 years 2 months and 20 years 6 months respectively), were presented with the video and asked to indicate by pressing a button when they would choose to cross the road. Variables measured included the total number of crossings made and the percentage of those that were safe, number of missed opportunities and unsafe gaps chosen, the mean starting delay and gap size chosen, and the correlation between the delay and the gap chosen for each individual. Results showed that, although there were large and significant differences between adults and children on total crossings, percentage safe crossings, mean starting delay and gap size chosen, the structure of the road crossing behaviour was very similar. Children make decisions in the same way as adults, but are less good at it. There were large individual differences, suggesting that some children were more at risk than others, with possible factors being impulsivity and fine motor coordination. It is suggested that the video technique may, with some refinements, make a useful tool to screen children at risk and to use in remedial training.

A recent study has shown that although fewer accidents occur on rural roads, their severity is far greater. In the countryside, a car journey may be the only option for the school run. So how do primary schools ensure that their students develop good pedestrian skills? We visit Barley First School to look at the initiatives they ve put in place, such as Bikeability, Risk Assessment, and Guided Walks. The school hopes to encourage their pupils physical health and road sense.

In 2007, on average 37 children under the age of 16 were killed or injured each week on urban roads. An incident involving a student from Homerswood Primary made the school rethink its existing policy and implement a new Road Safety Training programme, with the emphasis on Self-Assessment, Bikeability and Kerbcraft. We look at the impact that this new parent-led approach has had on the pupils.

Objectives: First, to measure the speeds of vehicles with and without children on the footpath, and second to compare these with drivers’ estimates of how fast they would go in these conditions. Design: The speeds of vehicles in three conditions: control (no children present), children playing with a ball on the footpath, and children waiting to cross the road, were measured using speed tubes during two 55 minute sessions. Drivers’ estimates of their speeds were measured with a questionnaire. Setting: Speeds were measured on a main road in Auckland, New Zealand. The questionnaire was conducted at another time with drivers stopping for petrol approximately 500 metres from the measurement site. Subjects: A total of 1446 speed measurements were taken and 93 drivers‘ questionnaire responses were analysed. Results: The mean free speed of vehicles in the control condition was 55.60 kph, with drivers‘ estimates being 56.37 kph. When children were playing with a ball the measured speed was 54.29 kph and the estimated speed 39.27 kph. When children were waiting to cross the measured speed was 52.78 kph, estimated speed 34.02 kph. Analyses indicated that there were significant differences between measured and estimated speeds. Conclusions: New Zealand drivers make inadequate speed adjustments in the presence of children, despite probably believing they do so. Establishing specific rules about appropriate speeds around children and highlighting to drivers the discrepancy between their attitudes and behaviour are two intervention strategies suggested.