#10 – Keep traffic safety education up to date

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Traffic safety and mobility education should be kept up to date. This applies to every aspect of education and applies to all actors involved.

On the one hand, the content of the educational material should be kept up to date in order for new road safety and mobility trends to be covered. For example, the risks of the use of smartphones in traffic and the pros and cons of nascent modes of transport, such as e-bikes and e-scooters.

On the other hand, traffic safety and mobility education should also be updated to reflect the latest knowledge. This not only includes the evaluation results of other road safety education interventions, but also knowledge coming from outside the road safety community, such as developments in neuroscience and psychology, technological innovations and solutions, and improved pedagogical and didactical methods.

Traffic safety and mobility education should furthermore keep up with developments in school systems, the methods used, and their way of thinking.

Traffic safety and mobility education in kindergartens and schools must also be renewed to make it relevant for the future. It cannot be predicted what present-day children will need in order to be safe in traffic in the future, so they also have to learn how to learn to behave safely.

BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES

Austria – Workshop on Distraction

As raising awareness for distraction in traffic should already start at an early stage, a workshop for 12 and 13 year old pupils was developed by the Austrian Road Safety Board (KFV). The workshop is part of KFV‘s Risi & Ko education concept (see Principle #14) and uses five characters to introduce students to the topic in a suitable way. Since personal involvement and public commitment are important for changing attitudes, the workshop uses methods (e.g. quizzes, experiments) that stimulate active participation and personal contribution.

Particular attention is given to the topic of smartphones in traffic, multitasking and the associated myths in order to enhance awareness and enable students to realistically assess the risks caused by texting or making a phone call while participating in traffic.

More Information

KFV (Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit), Risi & Ko – Ablenkung im Straßenverkehr.

Norway – Using New Technologies: Eye-Tracking and Virtual Reality For Young Cyclists

Based on the latest research in neuroscience, a Go/No Go inhabitation control test for young cyclists was developed. Three flashing lamps were placed on a test track to attract the pupils’ attention; for the Go test the pupils were asked to look at the lights, whereas for the No Go test the young cyclists were asked not to.

Using wearable glasses with eye-tracking sensors, their gaze was mapped. While most pupils indicated they had easily passed the No Go test, the results showed that only half had managed to follow the given instructions.

The results were used to establish an attention training program for the most critical traffic situations, which is being evaluated by studying cyclist behaviour in a virtual reality (VR) scenario. Teachers from three counties conducted the training program with 30 pupils in SINTEF’s VR laboratory.

The pupils sit on a bike with VR goggles with integrated eye-tracking and ride in a very lifelike scenario. The task is to behave like they practiced during the attention training. A control group rides the same scenario, having received only regular bike training.

The preliminary results show a distinct difference between the groups, as the experiment group is orientating better in risk situations at the intersection and have a more conscious movement of their gaze.

More Information

A paper on the results of the study is available here.

Spain – Virtual Training Bike Initiative

Virtual reality (VR) goggles and a static bike allow people to pedal through a virtual Madrid, in order to not only learn about the applicable cycling regulations, but also the potentially dangerous situations that the cyclist may encounter on the five pre-programmed routes and how to prevent them.

The initiative, a collaboration between the Madrid City Council and Fundación MAPFRE, furthermore aims to promote healthier, sustainable and cleaner transport by promoting the use of bicycles.

More Information

For more information, please visit the website of Fundación MAPFRE.

Finland – Digitalisation through the Curriculum

Digitalisation is a major theme in Finland’s new core curriculum (see Principle #2). The Finnish Road Safety Council (Liikenneturva) has therefore designed Filla&Rilla, a digital learning environment for safe cycling for 9 -12 years old pupils. The structure includes levels aimed at different grades and includes a module where pupils can practice anticipation in virtual reality.

More Information

Liikenneturva, Filla & Rilla.

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