Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2024;25(3):510-517. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2024.2305426. Epub 2024 Feb 7.
To determine the effect of a school traffic warden program on increasing driver yield and safe child pedestrian crossing behavior in Kampala, Uganda.
We designed and implemented a school traffic warden program in specific school zones in Kampala, Uganda. We randomly assigned 34 primary schools in Kampala, in a 1:1 ratio, using a computer-generated randomization sequence, to control or intervention arms in a cluster randomized trial. Each school in the intervention group received one trained adult traffic warden stationed at roads adjacent to schools to help young children safely cross. The control schools continued with the standard of care. We extracted and coded outcome data from video recordings on driver yield and child crossing behavior (defined as waiting at the curb, looking both ways for oncoming vehicles, not running while crossing, and avoiding illegal crossing between vehicles) at baseline and after 6 months. Using a mixed effect modified Poisson regression model, we estimated the prevalence ratio to assess whether being in a school traffic warden program was associated with increased driver yield and safe crossing behavior.
A higher proportion of drivers yielded to child pedestrians at crossings with a school traffic warden (aPR 7.2; 95% CI 4.42-11.82). Children were 70% more likely to demonstrate safe crossing behavior in the intervention clusters than in control clusters (aPR 1.7; 95% CI 1.04-2.85). A higher prevalence was recorded for walking while crossing (aPR 1.2; 95% CI 1.08-1.25) in the intervention clusters.
The school traffic warden program is associated with increased driver yield and safe child pedestrian crossing behavior, i.e., stopping at the curb, walking while crossing, and not crossing between vehicles. Therefore, the school traffic warden program could be promoted to supplement other road safety measures, such as pedestrian safety road infrastructure, legislation, and enforcement that specifically protects children in school zones.
确定学校交通管理员计划对增加乌干达坎帕拉司机让行率和保障儿童安全过街行为的影响。
我们在乌干达坎帕拉的特定学校区域设计并实施了学校交通管理员计划。我们使用计算机生成的随机序列，以 1:1 的比例，将坎帕拉的 34 所小学随机分配到控制组或干预组，进行了一项整群随机试验。干预组的每所学校都有一名经过培训的成人交通管理员在学校附近的道路上执勤，帮助年幼的孩子安全过马路。对照组的学校继续采用标准护理。我们从基线和 6 个月后的视频记录中提取并编码了司机让行率和儿童过街行为（定义为在路边等待、双向观察过往车辆、过马路时不奔跑、避免在车辆之间非法穿行）的数据。使用混合效应修正泊松回归模型，我们估计了患病率比，以评估参与学校交通管理员计划是否与增加司机让行率和安全过街行为相关。
在有学校交通管理员的路口，司机让行儿童的比例更高（调整后的患病率比[aPR]7.2；95%置信区间[CI]4.42-11.82）。与对照组相比，干预组的儿童更有可能表现出安全的过街行为（aPR 1.7；95%CI 1.04-2.85）。干预组中记录到的过马路时行走的比例更高（aPR 1.2；95%CI 1.08-1.25）。
学校交通管理员计划与增加司机让行率和保障儿童安全过街行为相关，即司机在路边停车、过马路时行走以及不穿行车辆之间。因此，学校交通管理员计划可以推广，以补充其他道路安全措施，如行人安全道路基础设施、立法和执法，专门保护学校区域的儿童。
