Traffic psychology and road education in Tanzanian Secondary School
Author(s): Perego, Biassoni, Ciceri
Slidedeck Presentation Only (no paper submitted):
Abstract:
In Tanzania, in 2014, 3,760 people were killed on the roads, and 14,530 were injured (WHO, 2015). The possible reasons are to be investigated around the fatalistic beliefs common in Africa, and the lack of effective road safety education in schools. The aims of the research was to open a 'window of thought' on simple concepts such as road risk and danger, starting from the idea that reflecting on these concepts would help students to improve their awareness of the dangers that can be found on the road. The present study was conducted in a Secondary School in Tanzania in 2016. In January 212 students received a two-hour training held by a traffic psychologist and the training effectiveness was assessed through Static Hazard Perception Test, that was submitted before the training and twice after the training, in February and in November. The task requires participants to indicate, using a sign (participants here were asked to make a circle), all locations in the picture where they recognize potential safety hazards.
The study will be repeated in January 2018 in a different secondary school in Arusha Region and the old data will be presented with the new one. Pre-post repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) yielded a principal effect of the training on hazard perception (F (1,210) = 27.519, p<.001)
Data collected in the follow up show that the level of hazards perception at eight months after the training was lower than immediately after the training (ANOVA F (1,210) = 11,700, p<.005) but higher than before the training (ANOVA F (1,210) = 85,685, p<.001). The results of the pre-lesson administration of the SHPT show that the students taking part in the training had a poor initial understanding of possible road hazards. The results of the SHPT task administered after the training show a promising improvement in the analysis of risk situations by the students. It appears that the fostering of a reflective assessment of road situations helped the subjects to start to think about their experiences as users of the road and about what may be considered a danger, so as to be able to actively recognize possible hazards more easily. Despite limitations of the research, the results suggest that a traffic psychology training, based on students' reflection about their experience as road users, may help to better recognize hazards on the road and to maintain such ability forward.