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Pedestrian accidents and road safe~ education in selected developing countries by I A Sayer and A J Downing ,. TRL Repoti 227 The Transport Research Laboratory is the largest and most comprehensive centre for the study of road transport in the United Kingdom. For more than 60 years it has provided information that has helped frame transport policy, set standards and save lives. TRL provides research-based technical help which enables its Government Customers to set standards for highway and vehicle design, formulate policies on road safety, transport and the environment, and encourage good traffic engineering practice. As a national research laboratory TRL has developed close working links with many other international transport centres. lt also sells its services to other customers in the UK and overseas, providing fundamental and applied research, working as a contractor, consultant or providing facilities and staff. 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Transport Research Laborato~ Old Wokingham Road Crowthorne, Berkshire, RG45 6AU Overseas Development Adminis~ation 94 Victoria Street London, SWIE 5JL TRL REPORT 227 PEDESTRMN ACCIDENTS AND ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION IN SELECTED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES by I A Sayer and A J Downing Subsector: Urbanisation and Transport Theme: Road Safety Engineering, Countermeasures Project title: Road User Behaviour Project reference: R6029 Copyright Transport Research Laboratory 1996. All rights reserved. This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Overseas Development Administration (ODA) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the ODA. Transpofi Research Foundation Group of Companies Transport Research Foundation (a company limited by guarantee) trading as Transport Research Laboratory. Registered in England, Number 3011746. TRL Limited. Registered in England, Number 3142272. Registered Offices: Old Wohngham Road, Crowthome, Berkshire, RG456AU. First Rblished 1996 ISSN 0968-4107 CONTENTS Executive Summary Abstract 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Introduction Surveys carried out, methodology and samples sizes 2.1 Road accidents 2.2 Ministries of Education 2.3 Road safety practice in developing country schools Results 3.1 3.2 Pedestrian road accidents Page 1 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 3.1.1 The magnitude of the problem 5 3.1.2 The nature of pedestrian accidents 5 Road safety education results 8 3.2.1 3.2.2 3,2.3 3.3.4 3.3.5 The provision of road safety education 8 Road safety topics taught 10 Methods of teaching road safety 11 Teaching materials and aids 12 Problems encountered and desired improvements 13 Summary and conclusions 13 Acknowledgements 15 References 15 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report describes the results of surveys that were carried out as the initial phase of a research programme which aims to achieve a long-term reduction in developing country child pedestrian accidents and casualties. It is considered that this can be achieved by improving the understanding of the problem and by improving teachers’ and children’s road safety knowledge, behaviour and attitudes through education means researched in developing countries themselves. Pedestrians are a particularly vulnerable group of road users in developing countries and their exposure to risk is high. In part this is due to the high proportion of journeys made on foot, a lack of footpath facilities, especially in rural areas, and poor road user behaviour and knowledge. The road accident data from Botswana, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, showed that 30 to 50 per cent of recorded fatal accidents were pedestrians. Pedestrians under 16 years old formed about one-quarter of those killed. In Zimbabwe, over 75 per cent of the pedestrians killed were crossing the road. Of the pedestrians injured whilst walking along a road, 70 per cent were injured when walking with their back to the traffic. The world-wide survey of Ministries of Education showed that road safety was a mandatory subject in 50 and 55 per cent of developing and developed counties respectively. Over twice as many Ministries in developed (29 per cent) as in developing countries (11 per cent) stated that road safety should be taught as a separate subject as opposed to including it with a co-subject such as Social Science. Although young people were among the high at risk group in Pakistan (29 percent), less than 25 per cent of schools in Karachi provided road safety lessons. About 50 percent of the schools surveyed in Zimbabwe and Botsw~a taught road safety. A lack of resources and poor teacher knowledge of teaching road safety were perceived as main problems to teaching road safety. About 50 per cent of schools stated that increased teacher training was a very important need. Schools in Zimbabwe and Botswana attached more importance to teaching ‘How to cross roads safely’ (64 to 80 per cent), ‘Safe places to cross’ (57 to 67 per cent), and ‘Safe places to play’ (27 to 79 per cent). ‘Dangers of parked cars’ (Oto 24percent) and ‘People who can help children to cross roads (21 to 30 per cent), were less frequently taught. The study forms part of TW’s Overseas Resource Centre’s ongoing research programme into road safety in developing countries and was funded by the British Overseas Development Administration. 1 PEDESTWAN ACCDENTS AND ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION IN SELECTED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ABSTRACT This report describes the results of surveys that were carried out as the initial phase of a research prograrnme which aims to improve pedestrian road safety education and reduce pedestrian accidents in Third World countries. The study includes replies from questionnaires distributed to Ministries of Education throughout the world and to schools in Botswana, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. The report also shows road accident data from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Pakistan (Karachi and Islamabad). Pedestrian casualties accounted for 50 per cent of the total injured in Karachi, 35 percent in Zimbabwe, 29 percent in Botswana and 33 percent in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Of the pedestrian casualties killed in PNG, 36 per cent were less than 15 years old. The percentages of pedestrian casualties less than 15 years old who were killed in Karachi and Botswana were 29 and 26 per cent respectively. In Zimbabwe a sample of pedestian casualties showed that 70 per cent were injured when walking along a road with their back to the traffic. The main journey purpose of adult pedestrians injuredin Zimbabwe was walking from work to home. Twelve per cent of casualties less than 15 years old were injured on a school journey. Nine per cent of these were injured on the homeward trip. Worldwide, 43 Ministries of Education replied to a questionnaire on traffic education. In both the developed and developing countries there was a tendency for road safety to be a mandatory subject in the junior rather than the senior schools. Most Ministries recommended that road safety should be taught as part of another subject. In developing countries, Social Studies was the most frequently mentioned subject. The main priority for improving road safety education in developing counties was ‘New curriculum materials’. In developed countries, the main priority was ‘Increased teacher training’. About 50 per cent of the 1580 schools questioned claimed to have taught road safety. In Islamabad (26 per cent) and Zimbabwe (34 per cent), traffic safety instruction was left to the discretion of individual teachers. Road safety demonstrations and practices were carried out in about 50 per cent of schools in Zimbabwe. About 10 percent of schools in Pakistan conducted demonstrations and held practices in a playground. Material help was generally sought as posters and films. Outside specialists were used to teach road safety in 28 per cent of schools in Botswana. Police visited about 5 per cent of the schools surveyed in Pakistan and 8 per cent in Zimbabwe and Botswana. In all three countries, the parent’s role in teaching road safety in schools was negligible. In Zimbabwe (about 60 per cent), Botswana (54 per cent) and Pakistan (30 per cent) a lack of finance and shortage of materials were cited as main reasons for not teaching road safety. Less than 5 per cent of any of the schools surveyed had provided cycle training for pupils. 1. INTRODUCTION Studies, in developing countries (Jacobs and Sayer, 1983; Jacobs and Sayer, 1984; Sayer and Hitchcock, 1984; Downing, 1991; Downing et al, 1993) have shown that pedestrians are a high risk group of road-users representing a significant proportion of all reported road accident casualties. For example, in African countries, more than 40 per cent of road accident fatalities were pedestrians. In Middle Eastern countries it was more than 50 percent. By comparison, in Europe and the United States of America (USA) pedestrians represented about 20 percent of road accident fatalities. The higher involvement of pedestrians in developing country accidents may have been simply due to more people making walking trips. However, there is some evidence (Jacobs and Sayer, 1984), showing that, when pedestrian and vehicle flows were taken into account, pedestrians were more at risk in Third World cities than they were in UK cities. The above studies by Downing (1991 and 1993) also showed that approximately 20 per cent of fatal road accidents in Third World countries involved young people under the age of 15 years. In European countries and the USA it was 10 per cent. On average, children in Africa represented more than a quarter of all pedestrian road accident deaths. However, as the proportion of the population aged less than 16 is approximately double that of developed countries, these statistics do not necessarily mean that children are more at risk in developing countries. Nevertheless, children in Third World countries clearly 3 represent a serious road accident problem requiring priority attention. Research has shown (Downing et al, 1993) that both pedestrian anddriverbehaviour and knowledge can be poor in developing countries. Road user education improvements would seem to have good potential for accident and injury reduction. Although there have been numerous studies investigating the effectiveness of road safety teaching methods and materials in developed countries, the transferability of their findings to developing countries is uncertain. Therefore, TRL has proposed a two-stage process aimed at improving the approach to road safety education in developing countries. The first stage is studying accident patterns, education practices, resources and needs for teaching road safety. The second is the development of road safety education materials for teaching road safety in primary schools. This report describes the results of the first stage of this research and development programme. It compares: 1. pedestrian accident statistics in Botswana, Pakistan Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Zimbabwe 2. results from road safety education questionnaires sent to Ministries of Education throughout the world 3. results from road safety education questionnaires distributed to primary schools in Botswana, PtiIstan and Zimbabwe. 2. SURVEYS CARRIED OUT, METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLES SIZES 2.1 ROAD ACC~ENTS TRL’s Microcomputer Accident Analysis Programme, MAAP, (Hills and Elliot 1991), was used to analyse road accident data from Botswana (1991 ), Pakistan (1991), Papua New Guinea (1990) and Zimbabwe (1990). The accident data was obtained from standard police accident reports with information on 728 pedestrian casualties in Botswana, 586 in (Karachi) Pakistan, 533 in PNG and 2,868 in Zimbabwe. The Pakistan records were restricted to Karachi. These were the only comprehensive accident data computerised in that c?untry. Other data came from specially prepared pedestrian accident forms filled in by the police collecting extra information on pedestrian movements, journey purpose and each accident site in Papua New Guinea, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Sample sizes in each country were 46, 58, and 564 respectively. 2.2 M~ISTRIES OF EDUCATION A postal questionnaire was distributed to Ministries of Education worldwide determining what recommendations, advice or instructions had been issued to schools about road safety education. Questionnaires were sent to 93 Ministries of Education in developed and developing countries. Countries not replying within two months of the initial request were sent additional information about the research programme and another copy of the questionnaire. Forty-three (46 per cent) countries replied: this included Canada where returns from eight provinces were received. Thus, 50 questionnaires in total were received. Of the 43 countries replying, 15 (35 per cent) were developed country replies and 28 (65 per cent) were developing country replies. 2.3 ROAD SAFETY PRACTICE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRY SCHOOLS A questionnaire survey of road safety education practice was conducted in a cross section of schools in Botswana, Ptilstan and Zimbabwe. These countries were selected because they had relatively good road accident data collection systems and well-established collaborating arrangements for joint research with TRL. All three countries regarded road accidents as a serious problem and had road safety organisations interested in participating in the study. Structured in a similar way to the Ministry of Education questionnaire, a questionnaire distributed to teachers was designed to obtain details about teachers’ views on teaching methods, priority topics, resources available, outside support, time spent on road safety topics,problems encountered and improvements needed. Also, included were questions on training for cyclists. To ensure that the questionnaire would cover essential topics adequately without making it long, pilot studies were carried out in all three countries. The method of distributing the questionnaire varied. In Pakistan, where there was no organisation to coordinate a nationwide survey, only schools in Karachi and Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, were contacted. Delivery was by hired motorcycle riders who also had the responsibility of collecting the completed forms. In Karachi 1700 Primary and Secondary schools were listed by the government and about 450 (26 per cent) randomly selected schools were sent questionnaires. Four hundred and forty-five forms were returned for analysis. In Islamabad the questionnaires were delivered and collected by hired couriers to the 200 schools in the Islamabad area. One hundred and twenty-one questionnaires (60 per cent) were returned. 4 In Botswana, the questionnaire was distributed to and collected from 132 randomly selected schools throughout the country by the office of the Principal Curriculum Development Officer. In Zimbabwe, questionnaires were sent to about 800 randomly selected schools. Three hundred and eighty-three schools (48 per cent) replied. The distribution and collection were coordinated by the Zimbabwe Traffic Safety Board. 3. ~SULTS 3.1 PEDESTRIAN ROAD ACC~ENTS 3.1.1 The magnitude of the problem Table 1 shows that pedestrians were a particularly vulnerable group, representing 50 percent of the road users killed in Karachi, 35 per cent in Zimbabwe, 33 per cent in PNG and 29 per cent in Botswana. There were differences between countries, notably the high proportions of deaths to pickup occupants in Botswana (31 percent) and PNG (35 per cent) and of two wheeler riders in Karachi (27 percent). These differences reflecting the national traffic patterns and users of these vehicles. From Figure 1it can be seen that between 12 and 17 percent of the reported pedestrian casualties in Botswana, PNG and Zimbabwe died. This was considerably higher that in Karachi where 47 per cent died. 3.1.2 The nature of pedestrian accidents Table 2 shows the main characteristics of pedestrian fatalities for the four countries as provided by ‘standard’ police accident report forms. The six main findings were as follows. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Pedestrian fatalities were predominately male in all five countries, with Karachi having the highest proportion. With the exception of PNG (44 per cent), most pedestrians were killed when crossing roads. A low percentage (4 per cent), of pedestrians in Karachi were killed while walking in the road. This statistic probably reflects the fact that only data av~lable for this part of the study was ‘urban’ where more raised pavement facilities were available for pedestrians than for data sets covering both urban and rural areas. The percentage of pedestrians killed under the ages of 16 years ranged between 22 percent in Zimbabwe to 36 per cent in PNG. Botswana and Karachi had similar percentages of young pedestrians killed, 26 and 29 per cent respectively. Most pedestrian fatalities were the result of accidents with commercial or public transport type vehicles (Botswana 61 percent, Karachi 78 percent, PNG 85 per cent). In Zimbabwe the percentage was slightly lower, at 47 per cent. The percentage of pedestrians killed on all roads at night was greater in Zimbabwe (42 per cent), than the other three countries. The proportion ‘of pedestrians fatally injured on unlit roads was similar in Botswana (27 per cent), PNG (21 per cent) and Zimbabwe (30 percent). Much fewer pedestrians (9 per cent), were killed on unlit roads in Karachi than the other centres: again, this is likely to be due to the urban nature of the data set. TABLE 1 1 Class of road accident fatality Botswana Karachi PNG Zimbabwe Class of road user Per cent of fatalities Pedestrian 29 50 33 35 car 22 1 7 20 HGV 9 8 15 17 Buslpt 3 8 4 7 Motorcycle 1 17 2 3, Pick up 31 4 35 NA Pedal cycle 2 10 0 5 Other 3 2 4 13 Per cent 100 100 100 100 Sample size 311 559 284 980 5 36 52 Severity Fatal ❑~ Serious injuy ❑ Slight injuy 47 47 Unknown Botswana Karachi PNG 12 1 Unknown County/Ci~ Fig. 1 Percentage of pedestrian casualties tilled, seriously injured and slightly injured, 1991. TABLE 2 Main characteristics of pedestrian fatalities Zimbabwe Countries/city Botswana Karachi PNG Zimbabwe Sample size 109 279 94 72 Per cent Pedestrian fatalities that were: Male 63 84 66 72 Crossing the road 68 72 44 78 Walking in the road 10 4 36 16 less than 16 yr old 26 29 36 16 Injured by truck, van, bus or mini bus 61 78 85 47 In darkness, all roads 31 28 29 42 In darkness, unlit roads 27 9 21 30 Rural 64 NA 59 51 Away from junctions 74 87 82 91 6 6. Three-quarters of all pedestrians were fatally injured ‘away fromjunctions’. ForBotswan~ ~achi, Zimbabwe and PNG, percentages were 74, 87, 82 and 91 percent respectively. This is likely to be due to generally higher vehicle speeds prior to these accidents compared with those occurring in the vicinity of a road junction. Pedestrian fatality data from the specially prepared forms are shown in Tables 3 and 4. No data were available for Pakistan. The five key findings were: 1. Most pedestrians were killed while walking along roads without paved footpaths. This was particularly true for Botswana, where nearly two-thirds of the fatal accidents occurred on a road without a footpath or shoulder. In Zimbabwe, about 25 per cent of pedestrians were fatally injured on roads with a footpath. 2. It can be seen from Table 3 that of the pedestrians injured whilst walking along a road, that in both PNG and Zimbabwe about 70 per cent were injured when walking with their back to the traffic. 3. In PNG, pedestrians were more likely (47 per cent) to be involved in an accident less than 1~ m from home than in the other two countries e.g. Botswana 22 per cent, Zimbabwe 17 per cent. In all three countries, more than half of the fatal child pedestrian accidents were within 400 m of their home (Botswana 69percent, PNG 71 percent and Zimbabwe 57 per cent). 4. The pattern of accidents in relation to whether or not children were accompanied at the time of the accident was markedly different in each country. In Zimbabwe, the majority of accidents occu~ed when children were on their own (39 per cent), or with other children (40 per cent). In Botswana, most casualties were with other children at the time (79 percent). In PNG an altingly high proportion (38 per cent) were with adults at the time of the fatal accident. 5. There was a tendency for more accidents to occur on the way home (43 per cent compared with 31 per cent). For adults, the most common trip purposes were related to work (25 per cent), or shopping (25 per cent) whereas for children shopping (30 per cent) and school (12 per cent), trip featured most TABLE 3 Characteristics of pedestrian accidents Countries Botswana PNG Zimbabwe Per cent Casualties who were Sample size 58 46 564 Walking along a road with: No footpath or shoulder 64 31 43 Grass/dirt shoulder 13 50 31 Paved footpath 13 14 24 Other 11 6 2 Walking along a road: sample size - 16 54 Facing traffic NA 32 30 With back to traffic NA 68 70 Run over: All <15 yr All <15 yrs All <15 yrs Within 100 m of home 22 46 47 56 17 43 Between 101 and 400m of home 22 23 15 15 10 14 Between 401 and 1 km of home 20 15 16 11 19 19 More than 1 km from home 36 15 22 19 54 24 Children Unaccompanied 7 23 29 With other children 79 38 40 With adults 14 38 21 7 TABLE 4 Pedestrian casualties and journey purpose Casualties All Adults Children Casualties walking from home to: Work number (per cent) $ (1: (0; Shops 64 51 (13) (13) (1: Clubhar 24 20 4 (5) (5) (4) School/college 4 3 (1; (1) (3) Other 8 5 ;3; (8) (5) Casualties walking to home from: Work number 56 (per cent) (11) (1: (1; Shops 67 17 (13) (1: (16) Clubhar 16 (3) :3; (2; School/college 12 3 9 (2) (1) (9) Other 71 14 (14) (13 (13) frequently. The percentage of ‘other’ trips was quite high particularly for children (34 per cent). This trip category included ‘playing in the road’, ‘no special purpose’, and ‘purpose unknown’. 3.2 ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION RESULTS As described in sections 2.2 and 2.3, two questionnaires were distributed, one to Ministries of Education world wide, and another to schools in Botswana, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. 3.2.1 The provision of road safety education Results from the Ministry of Education questionnaire (see Table 5), showed that 77 per cent of developed countries included road safety in their national curriculum compared with 64 per cent in developing countries. It was mandatory in 55 and 50 per cent of developed and developing countries respectively. It should be noted that these and the other results in this section of the report may not be completely representative as countries replying to the questionnaire maybe those with a particular interest in road safety education. 8 Road Safety Guidelines were issued by government departments in 36 per cent of the developed countries. For the developing countries it was 29 per cent. In developing countries, road safety education was combined with Social Science (72 per cent), more often than the other topics shown in Table 5. In developed countries, Health Education was the mostfrequently (47 per cent), used partner subject. About three times as many developed countries taught road safety as a separate subject as did developing countries (see Table 5). About one half the schools surveyed in Islamabad, Botswana and Zimbabwe had taught road safety during the previous year of the survey. In Karachi, only 23 per cent of schools had done so, (see Table 6). However, a higher percentage (20 per cent), of schools in Karachi had taught road safety using a specialist teacher. In Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, only 2 per cent of schools had used a specialist teacher to teach road safety. In Botswana and Zimbabwe the schools reported that road safety was generally taught as part of Social Studies, reflecting the Ministry of Education questionnaire returns. In Pakistan, the largest percentage of schools surveyed taught road safety in Assembly (see Table 6). TABLE 5 Ministry questionnaire: the provision of road safety education in primary schools Countries Developing Developed Sample size 28 22 Per cent Road safety in the national curriculum 64 77 Road safety teaching: Mandatory 50 55 Optional 27 21 Not bown 23 24 Road safety education guidelines: Issued by government only 29 36 Issued by government and 36 55 other bodies Road safety combined with: Social studies 72 35 Health education 56 47 Other subjects 33 24 Taught as a separate subject” 11 29 * Sample size 18 17 TABLE 6 School questionnaire: provision of road safety education Countries/cities Botswana Islamabad Karachi Zimbabwe Per cent* ~ Number of schools 132 121 445 363 Taught road safety the previous year 46 51 23 52 Taught road safety at least once in 39 5 9 75 the previous term Used a specialist teacher for 10 2 20 7 road safety Number of schools 61 62 101 200 1 Road safety taught in: I Social studies 44 16 18 90 Health education 21 12 11 30 Other subjects 15 2 1 19 Special project 8 0 2 14 In assembly 21 32 19 47 Separate subject 8 2 10 8 Left to discretion of teachers 31 18 16 34 .. . . . . . . * Schools could choose more than one option 9 — 3.2.2 Road safety topics taught From Table 7, it can be seen that crossing roads safety was taught to Grades 1-3 in more than 75 per cent of schools in Botswana and Zimbabwe. In Pakistan schools attached more importance to teaching’ Safe places to walk (Karachi 43 per cent, Islamabad 48 per cent). In all three countries, importance was also attached to teaching’ Where to play safely’ and ‘Safe places to cross’. With the exception of Zimbabwe (Grade 4-5,42 percent), few schools taught the ‘Dangers of parked cars’. Only eight per cent of schools in Islamabad (Grades 4- 5), taught ‘Road safety vocabulary’. Few schools in Pakistan taught ‘Seeing and being seen’ but two-thirds (Grade 4- 5) of schools in the sample from Botswana and Zimbabwe did teach this (see Table 6). In Zimbabwe, 74 per cent of sample schools in urban areas taught ‘Safe places to cross’, whereas less than 60 per cent of rural schools did. Similarly, with ‘People who can help children to cross’. Forty-eight per cent of urban schools taught this with only 30 per cent of the rural schools so doing (see Table 7). Table 8 shows a selection of the main topics taught by schools from Zimbabwe and Botswana. In Zimbabwe 74 per cent of the sample of urban schools taught ‘Safe places to cross’ whereas less than 60 per cent of the rural schools did so. Similarly with ‘People who can help children to cross’. Forty-eight per cent of urban schools taught this with only 30 percent of the rural schools doing so. Table 8 suggests that road safety was a more important topic in the rural schools of Botswana than it was in the urban schools. For example, 24 percent of the rural schools sampled, taught about ‘Dangers of parked cars’ but in the urban area schools none did. Similarly, for ‘How to summons emergency help’, 15 per cent of the rural schools taught this but non of the urban schools did so. Where and how to play safely’ was taught in more rural schools (67 per cent) than urban schools (29 per cent). Appropriately, ‘Controlling animals on roads’ was taught in 37 percent of the rural schools and in only 7 per cent of the s~mple of urban schools (see Table 8). TABLE 7 School questionnaire: road safety topic taught by grade Countries/cities Botswana Islamabad Karachi Zimbabwe Sample size 61 62 101 200 Grades 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 Topic taught Per cent How to cross roads safely 77 79 42 23 39 27 83 90 Safe places to walk 67 67 48 16 43 28 78 85 Where and how to play safely 57 61 32 19 34 23 71 67 Safe places to cross 66 74 32 19 37 29 64 80 Traffic signs and signals 44 71 36 21 29 18 46 84 Using buses and other vehicles safely 34 49 21 12 19 14 45 66 Types and causes of road accidents 38 52 83 8 11 35 76 Seeing and being seen especially at night 41 67 82 59 27 65 Local roads and theirproblems 43 51 18 7 12 13 38 61 Traffic safety vocabulary 25 34 13 8 18 15 34 57 People who can help children to cross safely 26 43 24 12 23 16 30 44 Problems of controlling animals on roads 30 44 10 3 9 11 21 54 Dangers of parked vehicles 18 28 13 10 13 14 18 42 First aid 12 38 21 11 17 17 8 59 10 TABLE 8 Differences between topics taught in urban and rural schools Topic taught Per cent of schools Urban Rural Zimbabwe I How to cross roads safely 83 83 Where and how to play safely 79 68 Types and causes of road accidents 39 34 Controlling animals on roads 22 21 Dangers of parked cars 17 19 Safe places to cross 74 59 How to summons emergency help 9 12 People who can help children to cross 48 30 Sample size 125 23 Botswana How to cross roads safely 64 80 Where and how to play safely 29 67 Types and causes of road accidents 21 43 Controlling animals on roads 7 37 Dangers of parked cars o 24 , Safe places to cross 57 67 1 How to summons emergency help o 15 People who can help children to cross 21 28 Sample size 46 14 3.2.3 Methods of teaching road safety More (65 per cent) developed country Ministries of Education suggested that road safety was taught in the classroom than developing country Ministries (59 per cent - see Table 9). Developing countries were also reported to make more use of playgrounds (50 percent) than developed countries (16 percent). A sirnilarpercentage of Ministries (10 -12 per cent) said that schools in their countries used the roadside for teaching road safety. Nearly 25 per cent of developing country Ministries stated that schools used video/posters. Only 16 percent of developed country Ministries slated that schools used video/posters (see Table 9). ~ Results from schools (see Table 10), show that inside classrooms, ‘Talking’ was the main road safety ,teaching method. ‘Writing’ was a principle means of ins~ction in schools in Zimbabwe (72 percent). In Islamabad only 2 per cent of schools (Grades 4 - 5), used ‘Writing’ for instruction.’ Drama and role playing’ were used, in more TABLE 9 Ministry questionnaire: methods of teaching road safety Method used by all or most schools’ Developing Developed Countries Sample size 26” 22 Per cent Classroom 59 65 Playground 50 16 I Roadside 10 12 Traffic garden 5 4 Videos/posters 23 16 Police visits 9 27 Visits other 10 8 I * replies could include more than one option I 11 L TABLE 10 School questionnaire: methods used to teach road safety Countries/cities Botswana Islamabad Karachi Zimbabwe Sample size 61 62 101 200 Grades 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 Teaching method Per cent Inside classrooms Talking 78 80 60 32 46 26 88 90 Writing 24 48 15 2 77 35 72 Dram#role playing 18 28 11 3 97 36 54 Son#rhymes 16 18 72 97 35 29 Road simulation 7 12 20 56 27 51 Models 10 10 50 12 20 24 Competitions/quizzes 3 15 53 56 10 34 Special projects 10 13 70 35 93 Outside classrooms Demonstratiotipractice in playground 30 23 13 12 10 7 51 61 Practice on roads 16 15 55 15 44 52 Visits to traffic gardens 33 00 12 54 Other visits e.g. Police station 10 13 00 12 27 than 50 percent of schools surveyed in Zimbabwe but less 3.3.4 Teaching materials and aids so in Botswana and Pakistan, 3-36 per cent. In Botswana, ‘Posters/charts’ and ‘Pupil’s Road Safety Instruction outside classrooms was mainly carried out in books’ were the main materials and aids used for teaching the form of demonstrations (Zimbabwe, 61 per cent, Grades road safety (see Table 11). Few (2 percent Grade 1- 3), used 4- 5), and ‘Practice on roads’ instruction (Zimbabwe, 52 ‘Model road layouts and vehicles’. In Zimbabwe, ‘Model per cent, Grades 4- 5). None of the schools sampled in road layouts and vehicles’, were used by 16-20 percent of Islamabad made visits to ‘Police Stations’ or ‘Traffic schools questioned. Grades 4-5 in Islamabad schools may Gardens’ (see Table 10). be poorly supported with teaching materials (see Table 11). 12 TABLE 11 School questionnaire: safety teaching materials and aids Countries/cities Botswana Islamabad Karachi Zimbabwe Sample size 61 62 101 200 Grades 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 1-3 4-5 Teaching aid Per cent Posters and charts 36 54 14 2 19 16 54 74 Teacher’s guides 28 36 22 6 53 33 43 WorMactivity cards designed by school 7 12 04 24 4 24 32 Model roads and vehicles 52 30 25 16 20 Pupil’s road safety books 39 48 20 82 10 17 Films , videos, slides 77 33 11 10 12 TV or radio programmed 8 18 55 35 26 Flannel graphs 22 06 23 47 3.3.5 Problems encountered and desired improvement About 20 percent of schools surveyed showed that ‘Insufficient time/overcrowded time table’ to be a ‘Very serious’ problem in the teaching of road safety (see Table 12). Other ‘Very serious’ problems were ‘Lack of resources and finance’ (28 per cent in Karachi, to 61 per cent in Zimbabwe), and ‘Difficulty in obtaining traffic safety education materials’ (26 per cent in Karachi, 63 per cent in Zimbabwe). ‘Available materials were no good’ was a serious problem in about 30 per cent of school (see Table 12). ‘Classroom overcrowding’ was ‘Not a serious problem’ in most schools (see Table 12). Also ‘Not a serious problem’ in 80 to 90 per cent of schools, was a ‘Lack of teacher interest’. Staff with ‘Lack of traffic safety knowledge’ was a ‘Very serious’ problem in 48 per cent of schools surveyed in Botswana and about 20 per cent of schools in Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Eighty-five per cent of schools in Botswana, 84 percent in Zimbabwe and 60 percent in Islamabad listed ‘New teachin@leaming aids, posters and films’ as being the main ‘Very useful’ improvement. In Karachi, priority was given to ‘New teachers’ guides’ (see Table 13). Two-thirds of the schools surveyed in Zimbabwe, rated ‘Increased provision of outside experts’ as ‘Very useful’. Table 13 also shows that ‘Very important’ for schools in Zimbabwe was ‘Advise on planning courses/syllabus’ (5 1 per cent). ‘Teachers courses at school’ was ‘Very important’ for 74 per cent of schools in Botswana, 57 per cent of schools in schools from Islamabad and 62 per cent of the schools from Zimbabwe. Except for the schools in Karachi (27 percent), courses for teachers, whether on or off school premises, was judged ‘Very useful’ by schools in Zimbabwe (60 per cent) and Botswana (74 per cent). About 30 and 50 per cent of schools in Karachi and Islamabad respectively, rated courses for teachers as ‘Very useful’ (see Table 13). 4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ; This study was the first phase of a planned research programme into achieving a long-term reduction in child pedestrian accidents and casualties in developing countries by improving the understanding of the problem and improved educational means. Data from Zimbabwe, PNG, Botswana and Pakistan showed that 30-50 per cent of recorded fatal road accid~nts were pedestrians. Pedestrians under the age of 15 years formed “more than 25 per cent of those killed. TABLE 12 School questionnaire: severity of problems Countries/cities Botswana Islamabad Karachi Zimbabwe Sample size 61 62 101 194 Severity Very Fairly Not Very Fairly Not Very Fairly Not Very Fairly Not Per cent Insufficient time 20 15 66 20 26 55 22 13 65 19 29 52 Too many pupils 10 5 55 5 19 76 14 7 79 8 18 74 Lack of pupil interest 3 2 95 2 13 86 9 11 80 3 9 88 Lack of teacher interest 10 10 29 3 7 90 10 6 84 4 17 80 Staff lack of knowledge 48 14 38 13 24 63 19 9 72 20 27 53 Lack of resources 54 5 39 32 15 53 28 9 63 61 14 25 Available materials no good 28 10 61 27 11 62 18 8 74 39 19 42 Obtaining materials difficult 49 10 41 31 14 55 26 6 68 63 13 24 Lack of space 10 3 37 27 10 63 24 3 73 10 7’ 83 13 TABLE 13 School questionnaire: desired improvements Countries/cities Botswana Islamabad Karachi Zimbabwe Sample size 61 62 101 194 Severity Very Fairly Not Very Fairly Not Very Fairly Not Very Fairly Not Per cent New teachers’ guide 82 8 10 47 15 39 45 7 49 62 24 13 New curriculum materials 77 9 13 40 23 57 40 7 54 69 18 13 New teaching aids posters, films etc 85 3 12 60 11 29 39 12 50 84 10 7 Advise on planning courses/syllabus 62 20 16 40 10 50 21 12 67 51 38 11 Teacher courses at school 74 12 15 57 8 36 42 8 51 62 22 15 Teacher courses at local centres 60 22 15 50 13 37 27 9 64 60 26 14 Provision of outside experts 55 16 25 40 11 48 32 6 62 67 18 15 Other support 3 0 96 3 0 96 1 0 99 7 1 91 More than 75 percent of those fatally injured in Zimbabwe were crossing a road when injured. Seventy per cent of a sample of casualties were injured when walking with their back to the traffic. The main journey purpose of fatally injured pedestrians in Zimbabwe was walking from work to home. The worldwide survey of Ministries of Education, suggested that road safety was a mandatory subject in about 50 per cent of developing country junior schools compared with 77 per cent in the developed countries replying. Eleven percent of developing country Ministries suggested that road safety should be taught as a separate subject. The majority, 72 percent, suggested Social Studies as the main co-topic. In Zimbabwe, 90 per cent of schools questioned, taught road safety within Social Study lessons. In Karachi, less than 25 per cent of schools surveyed had provided road safety lessons in the year before being asked. In Botswana and Zimbabwe, about 50 per cent of schools questioned had provided at least one road safety lesson the previous year. Overall, about 50 per cent of schools surveyed gave ‘Lack of resources’ as a ‘Very serious’ problem. ‘Available road safety materials’ and ‘Difficulty in obtaining materials’ were also ‘Very serious’ problems for schools in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Teachingflearning aids such as posters and films were required by 85, 84 and 60 per cent of schools questioned in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Islamabad respectively. New curriculum materials were ‘Very important’ in 77 percent of schools sampled in Botswana. Teacher courses in schools were a ‘Very important’ improvement in Botswana (74 per cent), Zimbabwe (62 per cent) and Islamabad (57 per cent). Over 50 per cent of schools from these countries stated that ‘Courses for teachers at local centres’ was also ‘Very important’. Outside specialists were wanted by 55 per cent of schools in Botswana, 67 per cent in Zimbabwe and 40 per cent in Islamabad. In conclusion, crossing busy roads involves a range of complex skills and effective ways of teaching these skills to young children in developing countries need to be researched. Questions such as what, how, when and who should teach road safety in schools need to be thoroughly investigated. For example, the study showed that in PNG and Zimbabwe about 70 percent of a sample of pedestrians were injured when walking along roads with their back to the traffic. Seventy-two per cent of injured pedestrians in Karachi were injured when crossing a road. Such results suggest that crossing and using roads safely should form a fundamental part of any road safety education programme. ‘Courses for teachers, off school premises’ was judged ‘Very useful’ by over 50 percent of all the schools sampled. Although all road safety lessons taught in school may not be totally transmitted into adult life, making road safety an 14 integral part of educational curriculums has, potentially, considerable benefits. Therefore, researching road safety educational materials and resources for use in developing country primary schools and their curriculums has been chosen to form phase two of this TRL ongoing research programe. 5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work described in this report forms part of the research programme of the Overseas Resource Centre at TRL. The authors wish to acknowledge the numerous organisations, schools and individuals whose help was invaluable. In particular the authors are grateful to Mr S Swati and Mr Z U1 Islam (Pakistan), Mrs Leburu, (Botswana) and Mr R Luaka (Zimbabwe) fortheircooperation and the useoftheir staff. The authors also wish to thank the police forces in the countries quoted for access to their road accident data. 6. REFERENCES JACOBS, G D, and I A SAYER, 1983. Road accidents in developing countries. TRRL Supplementary Report 807. Crowthome: Transport Research Laboratory. JACOBS, G D, and I A SAYER, 1984. Road accidents in developing countries - urban problems and remedial measures. TRRLSupplementa ryReport839. Crowthorne: Transport Research Laboratory. SAYER I, and R HITCHCOCK, 1984. An analysis of police and medical road accident data Sri Lanka 1977-81. TRRL Supplementary Report 834. Crowthome: Transport Research Laboratory. DOWNING, A J, ET AL 1993. Pedestrian safety in the developing world. Paper presented at the Asian Road Safety Conference (ARSC), KualaLumpur, Malaysia, 1993. DOWNING A J, 1991. Pedestrian safety in developing countries. Paperpresentedat the International Conference on Road Safety, New Delhi, India, January 1991. HILLS, B L, and G ELLIOT 1986. A microcomputer accident analysis package for developing countries. Indian Roads Congress Road Safety Seminar, Snnigar. Proc of Seminar. 15