East, South, and Southeast Los Angeles Pre-School Pedestrain Injury Prevention Program

Purpose: To describe how a pedestrian safety program implemented in Los Angeles pre-schools impacted traffic safety behavior and knowledge among students and their parents.

Methods: Safety Sam is a 10 week pedestrian safety program provided to interested pre-schools in areas of Los Angeles County with high rates of pedestrian injuries. Teachers are given a curriculum to use in class while students receive an activity book for classroom use and a story book to read with their parents at home. In the tenth week, both students and parents participate in a pedestrian safety rodeo to reinforce newly-learned safe pedestrian behaviors. Parent participation is encouraged, and parents are asked to complete pre and post surveys describing their family's pedestrian safety behaviors and knowledge.

Results: Analysis of a preliminary group of matched pre and post surveys shows that students' knowledge of basic traffic safety rules greatly increased. The percent of children understanding the meaning of crosswalk signals (64% pre, 81% post), stop signs (70% pre, 84% post), and the colors of traffic lights (55% pre, 79% post) all increased dramatically after program implementation. There were slight increases reported in desirable traffic safety behaviors both among children (e.g. always holding hands while crossing street) and parents (e.g. always walking on the sidewalk).

Conclusions: Preliminary analysis shows that the Safety Sam pedestrian program has a substantial impact on pre-schooler's traffic safety knowledge as reported by their parents. Additionally, the program may contribute to minor increases in safety behaviors both among parents and children.