Assessment of Attitudes and Practices about Road Safety among Schoolchildren in Shkodra, North City of Albania

Road traffic accidents in Albania are particularly problematic in the biggest districts, where the population has sharply increased in the past decade. The school children remain the most vulnerable group. This paper estimates the level of attitudes and behaviors about road safety among school children in primary and secondary schools of the Shkodra district. In 2009, a cross-sectional study was conducted in four schools from urban, informal and rural areas of the Shkodra district, and included 102 schoolchildren (72 girls and 30 boys) from 11 to 15 years. A structured questionnaire was administrated that included information about socio-demographic data, attitudes, practices, sources of information related to road safety, and employment of safety measures for road users. Among 102 schoolchildren, 73% of them reported that school was the main source of information about road safety and 93% of them walked to school. However, only 4% and 29% of the schoolchildren reported the use of helmet and seat belt respectively. Conversely, there were no statistically significant differences in levels of attitudes and practices related to road safety with regard to schoolchildren’s origin (rural vs. urban areas) (p=0.32). The findings indicate a high rate of risky behaviors related to road safety among school children in Shkodra. Among other measures, immediate actions should be undertaken in order to enforce current legislation about mandatory use of seat belt and bicycle helmets.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13538047
• Authors:
  • Qirjako, Gentiana
  • Hysa, E
  • Amursi, E
  • Bozo, M
  • Hasani, V
• Conference:
  • Safety 2010. 10th World Conference
  • Location: London , United Kingdom
  • Date: 2010-9-21 to 2010-9-24
• Publication Date: 2010-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Pagination: v.p.
• Monograph Title: Safety 2010 World Conference
• Serial:
  • Injury Prevention
  • Volume: 16
  • Issue Number: Supplement 1
  • Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
  • ISSN: 1353-8047
  • EISSN: 1475-5785
  • Serial URL: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Behavior; High risk drivers; Human factors in crashes; School children; Traffic crashes; Traffic safety; Travel behavior
• Geographic Terms: Shkoder (Albania)
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01322789
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 20 2010 8:24AM