Pilot test of a train the trainer programmes on Road safety education

Abstract

Abstract Background Road injury is the leading cause of death for young people aged 5-29 years worldwide. As the human factor has been shown to be responsible for more than 3/4 of road incidents, changing safety attitudes and driving behaviours among youth is crucial to combat this public health issue. The current study is part of a project implemented by the Laboratory of Health and Road Safety (LaHeRS), in collaboration with the Lead Authorities of Primary and Secondary Education of Crete and with the financial support of the Region of Crete. The project started in 2019 and aims at promoting a road safety culture among school teachers of primary and secondary education in Crete Region through improving their competence in designing and implementing road safety education in class. Methods The program consists of three phases: a) 20 hours face-to-face training (e.g. needs assessment techniques, teaching approaches and techniques addressing risky driving, evaluation methods, practical training using the advanced technology of the driving simulator of LaHeRS Lab <<Virage VS500M >> etc), b) 30 hours distant learning using an online training program and appropriately designed training handbooks to support personalized training and, c) small-scale pilot projects of road safety education in classrooms, upon the scientific guidance and supervision of the LaHeRS research staff. For the purposes of the evaluation a questionnaire was completed to detect changes in teachers' competence to design and implement road safety education as well as their knowledge and attitudes (e.g. DSI, DBQ questionnaires) towards road safety. Results A total of 160 teachers participated in the 2019-2020 training programme, including 129 women, 109 primary and 51 secondary education teachers with a mean age of 43.4 years and a mean teaching experience of 16.5 years. The programme met high acceptability and raised significant teachers' confidence in delivering road safety education. Key messages The project proved to be efficient in addressing the pedagogical gaps in road safety education. Road safety education should be part of health promotion initiatives targeting children and adolescents.