Analysis of traffic upon school departure: Environment, behaviour, well-being and risk factors for road crashes

Introduction: School mobility and traffic in the areas surrounding the school buildings are crucial issues for both sustainability and road safety. The literature on children's safety and school mobility has focused mainly on identifying environmental risk factors for traffic injuries. Aims: The present study analysed the characteristics of the traffic at the time of children leaving school to identify the factors related to both traffic congestion and the risk of traffic injuries. Three aspects characterising the time when children are leaving school were considered. Two aspects concerned the traffic system: the environment (infrastructures and traffic conditions) and road users' behaviours. The third aspect was related to the people's well-being and concerned, more specifically, socialisation and stress at the time of departure from school. Method: The study involved all primary schools (N = 45) in a medium-sized city in northern Italy. Data were collected through naturalistic observation of the traffic outside the schools. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the traffic characteristics that are significantly related to a greater probability of road crashes. The risk collected for each school was finally classified into three levels (low, medium and high) according to the three considered aspects (environment, behaviours and well-being). Results: The results highlighted that the behavioural dimension had the greatest influence on road safety. In fact, in the school areas where risky behaviours like crossing outside the zebra and walking among manoeuvring cars were more frequent, a higher probability of near misses was registered. On the contrary, one infrastructure factor, i.e., the presence of a 30 Km/h speed limit zone, was associated with a lower probability of observed near-misses. Conclusion: The results supported the prospective benefits of training programs targeting both children and parents together with infrastructural improvements to promote safety and safe behaviours outside schools.