Pedestrians in road traffic accidents : an evaluation among school children of the Colombo Municipality area

Abstract

The objective of the study was to describe the knowledge, attitude and behavior on the risk of involvement of pedestrians in road traffic accidents among children of government schools of the Colombo Municipality Area This study covered thirteen schools within the study area. A total of 420 students of grade nine classes were interviewed. A self administered questionnaire was used to analyze knowledge, attitude and behavior, It was found that school curriculum and mass media have played a major role as sources of information on road safety. A majority of the students have been made aware on road safety by their parents and teachers. The role of health officers in creating awareness on road safety was not prominent. The study found that 70 percentage of the students had an overall good level of knowledge on road safety. However there was no statistically significant difference in the level of knowledge with regard to age, sex, area of residence and educational training on road safety. Results revealed that the majority of students had desirable positive attitudes towards measures increasing pedestrian safety. The overall satisfaction in terms of safety measures around schools was high (pO.OOl)