An Investigation into Child Pedestrian Behaviour and the Physical Road Environments Around Schools in the Cape Metropolitan Area

EasyChair Preprint 15986

Abstract

Traffic fatalities are a primary cause of premature deaths globally, and pedestrian casualties are a significant component of this problem. This problem is exacerbated by the involvement of children pedestrians who are more vulnerable than adult pedestrians; UNICEF notes that traffic deaths are the leading cause of premature death for children between 5 and 19 years old. Pedestrian and driver behaviour are two elements that influence crash likelihood but the role of the built environment in shaping that behaviour is increasingly recognised. In considering how the built environment influences road-user behaviour, most available literature focuses on drivers. There is less research on pedestrian behaviour and almost none on child pedestrians. This paper compares the physical attributes of the road environment around 19 schools in the Cape Town area, and the behaviour of drivers and child pedestrians at each school. The schools were selected based on their proximity to high levels of pedestrian crashes historically; ten are associated with very high pedestrian crash rates and nine with extremely low rates. Significant differences were found in the physical road environments between the two groups, with notable deficiencies in road sign/markings, speed management, and the placement of pedestrian crossings in the high crash areas compared with the low crash areas. The exposure of children to risks was strongly reflected in this division, with children in high-crash areas demonstrating significantly higher levels of risky behaviour like crossing at informal crossings, walking/playing in the road, and needing to take evasive action from vehicles.

Keyphrases: Child pedestrian injuries, Pedestrian behaviour, School journeys, built environment, road design

@booklet{EasyChair:15986,
  author    = {Marion Sinclair and Ada Jansen and Sophia du Plessis},
  title     = {An Investigation into Child Pedestrian Behaviour and the Physical Road Environments Around Schools in the Cape Metropolitan Area},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 15986},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2025}}