Safety around schools

<p dir="ltr">Around schools, increases in walking and cycling help to reduce traffic congestion and improve the road safety and neighborhood navigation skills of children. Physical activity and independent mobility may also have a positive effect on children’s behavioural and cogniti...

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Main Author: Jennifer Oxley (10057811) (author)
Other Authors: David Logan (588171) (author), Steve O'Hern (4434130) (author)
Published: 2015
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author Jennifer Oxley (10057811)
author2 David Logan (588171)
Steve O'Hern (4434130)
author2_role author
author
author_facet Jennifer Oxley (10057811)
David Logan (588171)
Steve O'Hern (4434130)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Jennifer Oxley (10057811)
David Logan (588171)
Steve O'Hern (4434130)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2015-11-12T09:00:00Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.24
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Safety_around_schools/27144474
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Health sciences
Public health
Child Pedestrians
Traffic Congestion
Road Safety
Independent Mobility
Behavioral Development
Cognitive Development
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Safety around schools
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Text
Journal contribution
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
text
contribution to journal
description <p dir="ltr">Around schools, increases in walking and cycling help to reduce traffic congestion and improve the road safety and neighborhood navigation skills of children. Physical activity and independent mobility may also have a positive effect on children’s behavioural and cognitive development. Child pedestrians, however, are a vulnerable road user groups, experiencing an increased crash and injury risk relative to older pedestrians, constituting a substantial proportion of all pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries, with children below the age of 10 years of age shown to have four to 11 times greater risk of collision compared to other pedestrians, and they frequently occur around schools. In fact, vehicle collisions involving children pedestrians are considered as the most serious health risk facing children in developed worlds. School safety evaluations were conducted involving four components: i) site visits providing physical assessments of current road conditions, ii) consultation with key groups including school principals and Local Council representatives, iii) desk-top review of available behavioural and training programs, iv) workshops to develop recommendations for appropriate and sustainable conceptual solutions. Using a number of case studies, the findings suggest that evidence-based and consultative selection of initiatives can be effective in encouraging walking and cycling while providing a safer environment around schools. This can be achieved through implementation of multi-faceted initiatives including engineering treatments to enhance the safety of the physical environment around the school and on popular routes to school, as well as sustainable educational/training programs for both students and parents. Evidence-based safety assessments are useful to develop a Safe System environment around schools. A combination of improvements to road design and operation, especially vehicle speed reductions and separation of vehicles and pedestrians, and behavioural programs to improved education and training, along with enhanced supervision can achieve sustainable reductions in child pedestrian trauma around schools.</p><h2 dir="ltr">Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Journal of Local and Global Health Science, title discontinued as of (2017)<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.24" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.24</a></p>
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identifier_str_mv 10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.24
network_acronym_str Manara2
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oai_identifier_str oai:figshare.com:article/27144474
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spelling Safety around schoolsJennifer Oxley (10057811)David Logan (588171)Steve O'Hern (4434130)Health sciencesPublic healthChild PedestriansTraffic CongestionRoad SafetyIndependent MobilityBehavioral DevelopmentCognitive Development<p dir="ltr">Around schools, increases in walking and cycling help to reduce traffic congestion and improve the road safety and neighborhood navigation skills of children. Physical activity and independent mobility may also have a positive effect on children’s behavioural and cognitive development. Child pedestrians, however, are a vulnerable road user groups, experiencing an increased crash and injury risk relative to older pedestrians, constituting a substantial proportion of all pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries, with children below the age of 10 years of age shown to have four to 11 times greater risk of collision compared to other pedestrians, and they frequently occur around schools. In fact, vehicle collisions involving children pedestrians are considered as the most serious health risk facing children in developed worlds. School safety evaluations were conducted involving four components: i) site visits providing physical assessments of current road conditions, ii) consultation with key groups including school principals and Local Council representatives, iii) desk-top review of available behavioural and training programs, iv) workshops to develop recommendations for appropriate and sustainable conceptual solutions. Using a number of case studies, the findings suggest that evidence-based and consultative selection of initiatives can be effective in encouraging walking and cycling while providing a safer environment around schools. This can be achieved through implementation of multi-faceted initiatives including engineering treatments to enhance the safety of the physical environment around the school and on popular routes to school, as well as sustainable educational/training programs for both students and parents. Evidence-based safety assessments are useful to develop a Safe System environment around schools. A combination of improvements to road design and operation, especially vehicle speed reductions and separation of vehicles and pedestrians, and behavioural programs to improved education and training, along with enhanced supervision can achieve sustainable reductions in child pedestrian trauma around schools.</p><h2 dir="ltr">Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Journal of Local and Global Health Science, title discontinued as of (2017)<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.24" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.24</a></p>2015-11-12T09:00:00ZTextJournal contributioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontextcontribution to journal10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.24https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Safety_around_schools/27144474CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/271444742015-11-12T09:00:00Z
spellingShingle Safety around schools
Jennifer Oxley (10057811)
Health sciences
Public health
Child Pedestrians
Traffic Congestion
Road Safety
Independent Mobility
Behavioral Development
Cognitive Development
status_str publishedVersion
title Safety around schools
title_full Safety around schools
title_fullStr Safety around schools
title_full_unstemmed Safety around schools
title_short Safety around schools
title_sort Safety around schools
topic Health sciences
Public health
Child Pedestrians
Traffic Congestion
Road Safety
Independent Mobility
Behavioral Development
Cognitive Development