Pilot Study: A Pediatric Pedestrian Safety Curriculum for Preschool Children.

Abstract

I n 2012, there were a total of 33,561 traffic fatalities and 2,362,000 traffic-related injuries in the United States ( U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2014a ). Both traffic fatalities and injuries saw an increase of 3% and 6%, respectively, when compared with the previous year ( U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2014b ). Pedestrian-related traffic crashes accounted for 14% ( n = 4,743) of all traffic fatalities and 3% (76,000) of all traffic injuries. Pedestrian fatalities in 2012 increased by 6% when compared with 2011 and displayed the greatest number of fatalities within the past 5 years ( U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2014b ). Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for children aged 4 years and children aged 11–14 years ( U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2014a ). Although there has been a 34% decrease in pedestrian fatalities of children younger than 14 years from 2003 to 2012, both the 1to 3-year-old and 4to 7-year-old age groups showed an increase of about 37% since 2011. This increase represents a jump in pedestrian fatalities for these age groups that have not occurred since 2006 ( U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2014a ). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WISQARS (2014) , last reported in 2011, unintentional pedestrian was the seventh leading cause of injury/death for children aged 1 to 4 year in the United States. In 2012, 73% of pedestrian fatalities occurred in an urban setting versus a rural setting ( U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2014b ). Numerous findings reveal that pedestrian injuries and fatalities are more prevalent in low-income, denser, and urban neighborhoods. Consistent with these characteristics, urban areas within the state of Florida ABSTRACT To evaluate and implement the WalkSafe Pre-Kindergarten Pedestrian Safety Curriculum. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design without a control group was used to measure children’s pedestrian safety knowledge. Knowledge assessments consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions were administered preand post-curriculum implementation by classroom teachers. Knowledge assessments gauged prekindergarten students’ knowledge of pedestrian safety activities prior to safety curriculum implementation and, again, after the students received the curriculum. A total of 605 children (aged 3to 5-year) from 38 prekindergarten classrooms in 16 randomly selected elementary schools participated in the pedestrian safety education pilot program. Subjects were of multiethnic and diverse backgrounds from the Miami-Dade County Public School District. Of the 605 educated subjects, 454 children completed both preand posttests. A statistically significant difference was found between pretest knowledge ( M = 5.49, SD = 1.54) and posttest knowledge ( M = 6.64, SD = 1.35) assessment scores across all 454 subjects, t (452) = − 16.22, p < .001, 95% CI [ − 1.29, − 1.01]. Previous studies have shown that classroom-based training of children as young as 4 years old can yield significant improvements in traffic safety knowledge. The statistical findings of the WalkSafe Pre-Kindergarten Pedestrian Safety Curriculum revealed statistically significant improvements in pedestrian safety knowledge of these young children. Future research efforts will focus on longitudinal behavioral changes in these students and an increase in pedestrian safety behaviors (e.g., utilization of crosswalks or sidewalks).