This paper examines traffic safety behaviors for different types of road users among childrenaged 0–17 years in Guangzhou, China. A stratified cluster sample of 7034 children frompediatric clinics (816 children aged 0-2 years who are receiving vaccines), kindergartens (1148children aged 3-5 years), primary schools (2410 children aged 6-11 years), and secondaryschools (2660 children aged 12-17 years) were collected by self-reported questionnaire surveys.An 18-item Road Safety Behavior Index (RSBI) was developed to quantify the child road safetybehaviors and further investigate its interrelations with the socio-demographic factors amongdifferent age groups and travel categories (i.e., walking, cycling, public transport, and privatemotor vehicles). Results from statistical analysis indicate that: (1) the effects of children's socio13demographic characteristics on the RSBIs differ greatly concerning each particular travelcategory; and (2) RSBIs are more associated with child-related characteristics than with parents15related characteristics as the age of the children group increases. The research findings fromanalyzing the self-report questionnaires have been further validated with field observationalrecords, medical records, and police records. The paper concludes with some recommendationsfor preventing the growing toll of road traffic injury among Chinese children, which include: (1)continuing educational efforts to increase road safety knowledge and reduce traffic riskbehaviors for children and their parents; (2) creating a safe and convenient environment forwalking, cycling and public transport travelers; and (3) promoting legislation and enforcementsuch as the mandatory usage of bicycle helmets and child passenger restraints.
展开▼
