Here is a toolkit that will help improve safety of children to and from school
Posted 5 years ago
By Road Safety Hub reporter
A guide that will help road safety institutions and
governments formulate interventions to improve safety of children to and from
school has been launched.
The Toolkit for Child Health and Mobility for Africa
combines interventions including infrastructure design, funding and advocacy.
The toolkit, as explained on Child Mobility website, has
been developed for local and national governments, road safety practitioners,
and citizens as a guide to the planning, design, and implementation of
interventions to improve mobility of children.
The toolkit was jointly developed by the University of Cape
Town and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) with
support from the UN Environment Share the Road program and FIA Foundation.
According to WHO, 186 300 children die each year from road
traffic crashes around the world – that’s more than 500 children every day.
Traffic injury
Road traffic injury ranks among the top four causes of death
for all children over the age of five years.
The toolkit includes a planning process, which is key as it
helps users identify and assess needs of children in the community so that they
can come up with interventions that will address unique problems.
The process also includes assessing the ability of
institutions to address challenges facing children and develop effective
solutions, strengthen skills and how the organization engages with the public.
Another aspect is on financing models that will help
integrate children health and mobility into planning. This is because most
cities have not prioritised children in their planning and designs.
“Dedicated funding streams that explicitly prioritise the
needs of children are urgently needed. Innovative funding methods, including
crowdfunding and other community financing options, can raise money for
sustainable mobility initiatives,” the website states.
The toolkit itself provides a list of interventions
including best practices. Here is a breakdown of what the toolkit contains:
Education
This involves educating children on safety on the streets to
avoid death and injuries. This includes teaching them to obey road markings and
street signs, safe use of public transport and following safe walking and
cycling practices
Enforcement
Different sets of strategies can be used to ensure safe
driving. This is by ensuring that the roads encourage safe behavior and
includes culture, self-enforcement, and design.
The most effective way to ensure safe driving is to develop
self-explaining, self-enforcing roads.
Such roads incorporate geometric elements that discourage
high speeds, such as narrow lanes, narrow shoulders, chicanes, and sharp
turning radii.
These road designs ensure that little additional enforcement
is required. Additional interventions include speed limits and helmet laws.
Policies and
Legislation
Children are among vulnerable road users therefore it is
critical to put in place policies that allows them safe access to their
destinations.
The policies should address the physical mobility environment,
encourage use of sustainable modes of transport, such as walking, cycling, and
public transport.
Another measure is to regulate air and noise pollution from
transport so that vulnerable populations are appropriately protected.
Street Design
To address safe mobility for children, street designs that
make walking and cycling to school safer and more accessible for all is
critical.
Such street designs should be designed to encourage safe
movement and social interaction for children.
Child-friendly streets take into account their limited
range, slower speeds, limited visibility, and unpredictable behaviour. This may
entail shorter block lengths, shorter pedestrian crossings, and better sight
lines at intersections.
Encouragement and
advocacy
Encouragement and advocacy play major roles in establishing
a positive perspective for children’s health and mobility in Africa.
Encouragement and advocacy play major roles in raising public awareness and
buy-in.
EMAIL: editor@roadsafetyhub.com