The Usability and Effectiveness of Interactive Video as a Complementary Child Pedestrian Training Activity

Abstract

Practical on-street pedestrian training is one form of education designed to promote safe roadside behavior amongst young road users with the intention of reducing their potential of involvement in road traffic collisions. While many local authorities in the United Kingdom operate pedestrian training, a number are reducing the amount of on-street training on offer as a result of financial and time constraints. This reduction in practical training puts more emphasis on paper-based classroom activities which increase knowledge acquisition but are generally not as effective in improving practical skills. Interactive videos may prove to be an effective complementary activity alongside pedestrian training as it is suggested that they can more effectively target hard skills compared to paper-based activities. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of an interactive road safety video designed to improve children’s crossing skills between parked cars when no other alternative safer route is available. The paper finds that interactive video shows the potential to improve the crossing behavior of children and that it therefore may make a useful additional educational activity alongside pedestrian training.