Q: Safety of Students on the way to school? A: Modern Technology

Of the many problems leading to increased traffic in school communities, one of the most persistent concerns is the safety of students arriving at school. As many parents rush their children to school, it jeopardizes the safety of other students walking or biking across major crosswalks. This ongoing problem has led to the exponential growth of cars just before school hours, causing delays for everyone involved.

Without effective ways to increase the safety of all students, it would be difficult to encourage more students to walk or bike to school. One technique that many schools may use—cross guards—although effective at regulating crosswalks near the school, is inefficient for crosswalks in many busy neighborhoods. Being able to regulate traffic not only near schools but also around many neighborhoods is one key aspect that needs addressing to increase student safety while reducing rush-hour car accidents.

The main way to reduce such incidents is by educating the community at an early age about road safety. However, a study on the effectiveness of a school-based road safety education program for lower secondary school students in Denmark shows only a "small effect of the knowledge on the risk factors in traffic" on behavior for many students (Bojesen & Rayce, 2020).

The adoption of mobile devices by many students can be helpful in allowing parents to track their children walking or biking to school; however, this poses a new dilemma as they may start using their phones too often, leading to increased danger when crossing streets and intersections.

One modern method is using computer vision/object detection to increase safety and alert pedestrians and drivers of each other. Although speeding cars may come as a surprise to careless pedestrians, vehicle tracking systems can alert with incredible accuracy. A positive aspect of this technology is that it can also recognize potential risk factors such as mobile device use during crossing or potentially dangerous collisions and accidents, which can then be used to alert first responders.

Although this program has yet to be implemented in many school communities, it has the potential to increase the safety of many students walking or biking to school and prevent many common accidents from occurring.

References

Bojesen, A. B., & Rayce, S. B. (2020). Effectiveness of a school-based road safety educational program for lower secondary school students in Denmark: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 147, 105773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2020.105773