Pedestrian/Pedalcyclists Crashes incorporating Equity

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, injuries from road traffic crashes are a leading cause of death for children less than ten years old, a critical public health issue. School-aged pedestrians in lower-income neighborhoods may be particularly at risk. This study involved the application of a data-driven approach inspired by Vision Zero (VZ) policy goals. The research provided engineering and educational safety countermeasures for areas near elementary schools serving disadvantaged populations in major metropolitan areas of Tampa Bay, Florida, and Dallas County, Texas. This study’s elements were developed in close discussion with the stakeholders to incorporate engineering and educational countermeasures into Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs. Pedestrian education-related activities were evaluated using Virtual Reality-based (VR-based) pilot testing on elementary school children. The schools for this study were selected from schools within low-income neighborhoods in Dallas County. A key contribution of this study is to demonstrate the use of results from contextual collision data to inform scenarios evaluated in VR-based experimentation. Study participants found the training program to be immersive and realistic. Before-after observations also showed that the participants were significantly more likely to engage in safe crossing behaviors after the training.