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Parental Attitudes to Road Safety Education Final Report

1. Introduction

In August 2003 the Scottish Executive commissioned ODS Ltd. and Market Research UK to carry out research into parental attitudes to road safety education (RSE) in Scotland. The study was to focus on parents of two specific age groups of children and young people - 7-13 year olds and 14-18 year olds.

The impetus for this research has arisen out of previous studies that have demonstrated the central role that parents play in the road safety education of their children. Research has also found that the ability of parents to develop safe road safety education varies widely and depends on a range of factors and influences.

The study brief set out a number of aims for the research:

• To provide a literature review of existing research on parental attitudes to road safety education and parental influence on children's road safety behaviour
• To assess parental understanding of children's road safety risks among both age groups
• To find out what parents concerns are about their children in regard to road safety and to see what behaviours parents are encouraging in their children
• To explore parents' image of road safety education, particularly at secondary school and, for both age groups of children, look into children's attitudes towards road safety education and the control of their parents
• To establish the extent to which parents are willing to become involved in road safety education and how this might be facilitated
• To make recommendations on how to effectively involve parents of the different age groups in road safety education.

The study follows on from previous research carried out by the Scottish Road Safety Campaign into the development of a Road Safety Education Strategy in Scotland. The outcome of this has been to focus on supporting the development of partnership based approaches to road safety education between schools, local road safety officers and parents.

The promotion of road safety education is a key element in the Scottish Executive's strategy for casualty reduction in Scotland. With a target of achieving a 50 per cent reduction in child casualties from the 1994-1998 baseline level by 2010, the development of better road user skills in young people along with increased enforcement and improved road and engineering measures form the basis of a broad based strategy to achieve this.

Parents have always played a key role in the development of road user skills in their children. In recent years there has been increasing support for this through the provision of both local and national campaigns and the introduction of measures such as the Children's Traffic Club and more recently the promotion of programmes such as Child Pedestrian Training Skills and Safer Routes to School.

The Scottish Road Safety Campaign is particularly interested in supporting parents in their role as road safety educators. In order to develop this role, the Campaign is keen to develop a better understanding of the ways in which parents develop road user skills in their children and how this process can be made more effective. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of this study will provide a practicable and workable basis to assist the Campaign with this work.

This report outlines the approach that was taken to this study. It includes a literature review on parental involvement in road safety education, the findings of a Scotland-wide household survey and consultations with parents, children and other stakeholders in road safety education. Finally it draws together the findings from the research and sets out recommendations for future action.

2 .Study Methodology

The study was carried out between August 2003 and March 2004. It comprised a number of stages.

Stage One involved a desk top literature review on parental attitudes and involvement in Road Safety Education.

Stage Two was a large scale quantitative door to door survey of over 2,000 households across a range of location types throughout Scotland. This focused on households with children aged 7-13 years and those with young people aged 14-18 years. A detailed description of the survey methodology is included as Appendix 1. The survey questionnaire is included as Appendix 2.

The door to door survey was used to identify parents, who would be prepared to participate in Stage Three. Stage Three involved parents and their children being interviewed in parallel focus groups. Thirteen parallel focus group sessions were held. A list of focus groups is included as Appendix 3.

Stage Four involved a series of consultative interviews held with other key stakeholders including representatives of local Road Safety Units, head teachers and representatives of a number of key agencies and organisations involved in Road Safety Education including the Scottish Executive (Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning and Education Departments) and the Scottish Road Safety Campaign. A list of consultees is included as Appendix 4.

The study was overseen by a small advisory group with representatives of the Scottish Executive and, the Scottish Road Safety Campaign.

3. Literature Review

In order to set the context for this study, this section gives an overview of research into the factors that influence child road safety, including what is known about parental attitudes to RSE and the impact that this has upon their children.

Key areas that are covered are findings on the:

• factors that may influence accident rates among children
• parental involvement in RSE and the influence of this
• nature of educational initiatives and their impact on parents.

3.1 Child Road Casualties

According to Scottish Executive data ¹, in 2002 there were 2,745 child casualties on Scottish roads. Nineteen per cent (525) of these casualties experienced fatal and serious injuries and fourteen children were killed. Forty seven per cent (1294) of these casualties were pedestrians, 338 of whom suffered fatal or serious injuries. Pedestrian accidents are the main single source of child road casualties. However, significant numbers of children are also injured or killed in accidents while in cars (928 in 2002) or cycling (277 in 2002).

The Scottish Executive has subscribed to the National (UK) Strategy for Road Safety with the aim of reducing by half the number of children injured in road accidents by 2010 from baseline figures in 1994-1998. Following a review of RSE in Scottish schools (Graham, 2000); the Scottish Road Safety Campaign is in the process of implementing a strategy for RSE in Scottish primary and secondary schools. There is a range of RSE initiatives for children and young people in Scotland. The main ones focus on key developmental stages or areas of particular concern and include the:

• Children's Traffic Club in Scotland
• Safer Routes to School programmes in some local authority areas
• Child Pedestrian Training Skills in 12 local authority areas
• Junior Road Safety Officers scheme
• Cycle Proficiency training
• Pre-driver programmes.

This work would appear to be having some effect on child pedestrian casualty rates. In 2002, injuries reduced by six per cent on the previous year.

When 2002 is looked at in comparison to averages for the period 1994 -1998 it can be seen that there have been significant reductions in the number of road accidents involving children and their severity in relation to all modes of transport. The number of children experiencing a serious or fatal injury fell by forty per cent while the total number of child casualties has fallen by thirty three per cent.

3.2 Factors Influencing Accident Rates

Studies into pedestrian accident rates among children have found that some groups have a higher likelihood of being in an accident than others. Research identifies the following as having a bearing on child pedestrian accident rates:

• family structure
• levels of deprivation/social exclusion
• neighbourhood design
• age
• ethnicity
• sex

A number of studies have been carried out into the influence that the socio-economic circumstances of parents have on their child's accident risk, including road accident risk. These have identified a number of social factors that correlate with higher incidences of accidents. From these there are clear links between familial and area-based circumstances related to low socio-economic status and higher rates of road accidents among children. However, it is difficult to ascertain which of these factors has the most influence, and in many cases it can be seen that the combination of these expose children to more risk with a subsequent increase in accidents.

3.2.1 Social Exclusion

Graham (2002) commented on a link between road safety incidents involving children in Scotland and membership of a socially excluded group. This was linked to factors such as access to education and transport. White et. al (2000) also commented on the connection between socio-economic status and a child's risk of death as a pedestrian. Looking at social exclusion in relation to accident risk gives an understanding of the interconnected factors of disadvantage that can increase accident risk.

3.2.2 Family Structure/Size

The review Road Accidents and Children Living in Disadvantaged Areas (White et. al, 2000) comments that studies on parental influence have tended to concentrate on family structure. Statistics show that family structure does play a role. Children of single mothers have the highest death rates of any social group (White et. al, 2000). This is also true for road accident rates, Judge and Benzeval (1993) found that the children of lone mothers are fifty per cent more likely to be injured as a pedestrian compared to children from other social groups.

A Department for Transport report on road safety among children from ethnic minorities concludes that a range of social and economic factors affecting the lifestyle of a child's family influences the processes of the parent educating their child. For example, factors such as the health of the parent, employment status, or the size of the family can reduce, "both supervision and opportunities to learn". ²

3.2.3 Neighbourhood Design

In addition to economic circumstances, studies have suggested that there are area-based factors and neighbourhood features that affect accident rates. However, these may be related to social exclusion to some extent. Some of the more deprived areas have features that can increase exposure to risk of accidents; these include neighbourhood design, planning and travel routes to school. There is evidence of a relationship between the way that an area is planned and road safety for children (Balbissi et. al, 1990).

When the Balbissi study looked at this factor in Jordan, it was found that population density, road density and the availability of areas for children to play in, all played a role. Other studies have found that children from families with the lowest quarter of income cross fifty per cent more roads than those in families with the highest income quarter (Judge and Benzeval, 1993).

3.2.4 Age and Sex

Research carried out in Glasgow found that the ability to determine safe routes and situations depended on age (Ampofo-Boateng and Thomson, 1991). Skills were poorer between those aged five to seven, with abilities increasing around the age of nine and eleven year olds demonstrating the safest decision making abilities.

Although age may influence the capacity of a child to demonstrate safe road safety behaviour, research in Scotland has found that people in their early teens experience higher pedestrian casualty rates. A study carried out by Assaily (1997) found that in a range of countries there were similarities in the age groups that were most at risk of accident. These groups were five-nine year olds, ten-fourteen year olds and male teenagers, making males a high risk group between the ages of five-nineteen. Studies have also suggested greater risk of pedestrian accidents among boys from all age groups (Sawyer, 1998). An important secondary issue is where older children have acquired the necessary road safety skills but do not use them due to a number of factors. Research for the Scottish Executive (Sawyer, 1998) found that although young people knew safe road behaviour, they were not practicing it.

There is the need for children to be taught RSE in a developmental fashion that reinforces key RSE messages and acknowledges the different types of risk they experience at various stages in their life. Duperrex, Roberts and Burn (2003) found that it was important to reinforce key road safety messages at various developmental stages as acquired safety knowledge could decline if not reinforced.

RSE in relation to driving behaviour is also an important issue for young people. The SRSC targets young people at the pre-driving stage due to high road accident rates among young drivers. An evaluation of classroom-based pre-driving and post-driving test programmes found that the attitudes of young people towards driving were often formed prior to the pre-driver training. However, it found that interventions at the three month stage after passing the test had a positive effect upon new drivers, with the possibility that it is in this early period that the habits of new drivers may be most amenable to change (Carcary et. al, 2001).

3.2.5 Ethnic Origin

An emerging body of research examines child road accident rates in relation to ethnicity. A number of international studies have suggested that children from some ethnic minority backgrounds experience high pedestrian accident rates in comparison with their peers. This factor has also been identified in some United Kingdom studies.

Christie (1995) found that ethnicity and age emerged as a factor in pedestrian casualty rates among young children in the UK. Lawson and Edwards (1991) identified that children from an Asian background were almost twice at risk from pedestrian injury than other groups, but that this factor was more prominent in children under the age of ten. Although the most in-depth studies carried out in the UK have focussed on children from an Asian background, there is evidence from other countries, including New Zealand, Singapore and the United States, to support similar trends in certain ethnic minority groups within these countries.

The factors influencing these trends are less clear. The Department for Transport study, Road Accident Involvement of Children from Ethnic Minorities comments on the difficulties of disentangling ethnic origin from the risk factors wrought by low socio-economic circumstances, given that in many countries a higher proportion of black and ethnic minority families fall into this category.

However, the study also comments that there is a need to identify whether different factors exist in relation to parental influences due to cultural differences in supervision, exposure and educational opportunities. There is little research that examines cultural differences in safety practices. There are also gaps in research about differences within ethnic groups, for example examining socio-economic circumstances or length of time within the country.

3.2.6 Rural/Urban Areas

A limited amount of research has been carried out to examine the road safety risks faced by children living in rural areas and the factors that influence these. ³

There are varying definitions used to determine a "rural" area. The OECD (1999) found that no formal accepted international definition exists to classify rural roads. Some studies use population density/size, remoteness or non-built up roads to define what is a rural area. However, other studies base rural accident rates on the type of road, for example on the speed limit that is in force on the road.

Children experience fewer accidents as pedestrians or cyclists in non-built up compared to built up areas. The report Child Road Safety in Rural Areas (Christie et. al 2003) found that the accidents children experienced on rural roads tend to be more severe. The majority of child casualties in non built-up areas are car passengers. Children living in rural areas are more likely to be injured as a car passenger than those living in urban areas.

The study commented that this is due to higher car ownership, usage and longer journeys in rural areas, in conjunction with a lower exposure to busy roads as a pedestrian. It also concludes that these factors may necessitate a need to focus attention on RSE interventions in relation to car usage. This is seen as particularly important in relation to parental education:

"High car dependency and the fact that children in rural areas make a higher proportion of journeys by car suggest that in-car safety interventions may be important. Therefore educational interventions, which improve restraint use and focus on the behaviour of the driver especially with regard to speed and alcohol use, may be particularly important……the scattered nature of many accidents on rural roads suggests that educational interventions should focus on the drivers responsibility for the safety of child passengers."⁴

Child Road Safety in Rural Areas identifies a lack of research into the role of socio-economic factors in relation to road safety in rural areas. However, there are difficulties in applying certain measurements of deprivation to rural areas; for example, car ownership levels are a less accurate reflection of socio-economic status.

The study identifies a shortage of educational initiatives specifically targeted at children living in rural areas and recommends interventions that focus on driver behaviour in relation to child restraints, speed and alcohol. Road design and traffic calming measures were also highlighted as important ways to intervene in accidents caused by speeding or road layout.

3.3 Awareness of Risk among Children and Parents

The previous section indicated how a series of interconnecting social, economic and environmental factors could impact on the likelihood of a child being injured as a road user. Educational strategies and initiatives can go some way towards addressing the risks that children face. Studies show that child development needs to be taken into account and should influence the approach to RSE and the level to which children can be reasonably expected to adopt safe road user skills.

An examination of the awareness and understanding of danger among children aged between five and ten found that while even the youngest children had good concepts of danger, they were less good at distinguishing when a situation is dangerous. (Lewis et. al, 1997) The study indicated that the ability to distinguish between dangerous and safe situations increased with age.

Dunne et. al (1992) found that parents overestimated how well their children, aged between five and eight, would perform in tests of their skills as a pedestrian. Parental ability to determine how well their children would perform increased as the age group increased.

There are differing views about how effective training strategies can be among children due to the developmental nature of skills in perceiving risk and distance. In addition to parents being informed about the best way to educate their children on road safety they need to be informed about what their children can reasonably be expected to assess and cope with, for example, the ages at which children should be allowed unaccompanied on roads. This is reflected in a number of educational programmes, which aim to raise parental awareness of the level of ability their child can be expected to have.

For example, educational initiatives in New South Wales implemented by the organisation Kidsafe have been influenced by research conclusions that:

"parental supervision of their child on the road, role modelling of safe behaviour and perceptions of road danger to the child decreases as the age of the child increases. Of real concern was that children aged 7 to 9 years may be a particularly vulnerable group as parental supervision lessens at an age where the child is still too young to safely cope with a road environment".⁵

While parents need to be informed about when and how to supervise their children, it has been found that parents can play a role in increasing the skills and concentration of their child. The ability of a child in relation to switching attention from, and concentration on, the task in hand has been found to influence safe traffic behaviour (Lewis et. al). The latter study concluded that "concentration skills may be influenced by the style of parental interaction" and "it may be possible to educate parents to provide a more successful model for their children's behaviour". Here it was felt that the most effective parental influences might arise where parents have the ability to determine the skill and awareness level of their child and modify their own behaviour accordingly.

Transmitting road safety messages in the relevant environment has been identified as particularly important. In this context, the role of the parent is crucial. Children's road safety skills improve with age but it has been proven that on-road experience is required for these skills to develop. Chapman (1998) concludes that training needs to be progressive and include practical roadside training so that skills are learned effectively and thoroughly. This concurs with other studies that emphasise the importance of practical training that reinforces key road safety messages as the child develops otherwise acquired safety knowledge may decline (Duperrex, Roberts and Burn 2003).

3.4 Role of the Parent in Road Safety Education

Although road safety research emphasises the important role of the parent, there are gaps in knowledge about parental attitudes to RSE. This includes information on how the attitudes of parents are formed, what influences the way parents teach their children RSE and make decisions about their child's ability to be exposed to risk, and how these influences impact on their children's safety.

In addition to having a role to play in supervisory levels and skills enhancement, the part parents can play in transmitting key road safety messages is also important. There are a range of views on the optimum methods of teaching RSE, how parents currently influence this, and how parents can be guided to deliver effective RSE.

The operation of parental influence upon their children's road safety skills can basically happen in two ways. Firstly, through conscious teaching, and secondly, through the example they set through their own road safety behaviour..

Another important factor are the road safety skills possessed by the parent. The influence that observing parental road safety has on a child shows the importance of the road safety skills of the parent and the need to educate parents in road safety skills. Poor road safety skills in parents may detract from direct education initiatives targeted at children through schools and other sources.

A review carried out in Victoria, Australia into best practice in RSE across the world, "established the importance of parents as road safety role models for their children and also their potential to be their primary trainers in road safety skills". ⁶ The role of parents is also recognised as central to the effectiveness of RSE delivered in schools in the Scottish context. The strategy for RSE in the Scottish curriculum stresses that the most effective way of delivering RSE is through a partnership between schools and parents.

3.5 Approaches to Road Safety Education for Parents

Research highlights that adopting the optimum method for educating parents is an important area given the influence of a child's observational skills:

"Much more research is needed here, both with respect to the role that parents typically play in the educational process under natural circumstances (that is, by default); how that role might be strengthened; and what kinds of intervention might achieve this most effectively". ⁷

There are a wide range of initiatives at a national and international level that aim to impact on what, and how, parents teach their children about road safety. As parents influence their children's road safety skills through their own learned behaviour a number of initiatives also aim to strengthen the road safety skills of parents.

Evaluations have shown that certain approaches have better results in relation to educating parents and involving them in RSE. In England, the Training Parents project (Davies et al. 1998) examined opportunities for road safety and accident prevention messages to be delivered to parents. The Training Parents approach was a response to research that found previous initiatives had led to, "some dissatisfaction with group education sessions because they did not attract parents in the lowest income group and did not address the problems of safety adequately". The Training Parents project targeted parents on an individual basis through using health visitors to distribute a series of booklets that aimed to educate children at each stage of their development.

An evaluation of the programme showed there had been a good uptake of the booklets and a substantial improvement in parental knowledge of safety related issues. The study concluded that the factors influencing success was a combination between the nature of these materials and the way that they were distributed. The materials were developmental, attractive in appearance and required a low reading age.

In addition to educational booklets directed at parents, traffic clubs have been used as a method to include parents. In Scotland, the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland (CTCS) is open to children between the ages of three and five. The emphasis is on including parents in the RSE of their children in a structured and progressive way. A review of the CTCS (Bryan-Brown and Harland, 1995) found that membership of the club had led to more parents teaching their children road safety skills and demonstrating good road safety themselves.

The review found that uptake of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland was lower among lower income families. On the initial promotion of the Club, 53 per cent of eligible children from lower income families joined compared to 71 per cent of children from higher income families. Subsequent promotions of the CTCS have aimed to specifically target parents from lower incomes in recognition of the fact that this remains an issue. Interestingly, although membership levels varied, the likelihood of using CTCS materials with their children was the same regardless of socio-economic factors.

Gregersen and Nolen (1994) concluded that receiving direct road safety education, for example, through traffic clubs could result in children receiving less RSE from their parents, who reduce their own RSE input accordingly. This may be slightly different from the way that the CTCS is delivered as it aims to include parents in the learning process. Studies such as this emphasize the need for parents to be included in educational initiatives so that roles are clear and what the child is learning can be reinforced by the parent.

Some educational initiatives have been developed to complement child-parent interactions. The development of the Child Pedestrian Training Skills programme arose out of research by Strathclyde University who looked at the interaction between parents and children in a potential RSE environment:

"as they jointly solve pedestrian problems, with the aim of determining the kinds of dialogue that appear to promote (or inhibit) learning. The information used from such studies has been used to design formal interventions, one of which (Child Pedestrian Training Skills ) is now a national resource".

The Child Pedestrian Training Skills model for teaching children safe pedestrian habits has now been rolled out as a pilot scheme in twelve local authority areas in Scotland.

The Child Pedestrian Safety In Communities project has been set up by Kidsafe New South Wales, Australia, in order to increase the role of parents in preventing accidents among child pedestrians. The emphasis is on the need for parental supervision and what this should involve at each age and on how the adult can put across positive RSE when walking with their child. The project has been publicised through media, and information and resources that are available to parents and schools. Another important component has been a partnership and community-based approach, which has included parents, groups, education departments and road safety officers.

Ruiz (2002) looked at approaches taken in Victoria, Australia. The Road Safety Department in Victoria, Australia has carried out a range of work looking at RSE for children and is known for its innovative approach to road safety projects. Its five year Action Plan for traffic safety education is based on research which indicated "the importance of early childhood and the role of parents/carers in shaping road user behaviour from the outset". It has also found that there is a need to clarify respective roles due to confusion over who should promote road safety - parents or schools.

Much of the literature around RSE puts emphasis on 'on-road' training as an element in effective RSE thus placing parents in an important position in educational strategies. Ruiz (2002) found that in Victoria, Australia emphasising practical activity is one of the five strands of their road safety action plan:

"Provision of practical on-road training can be limited by a crowded school curriculum, time constraints and the difficulty of arranging adequate supervision. Parents are in an ideal position to provide practical learning and need to be encouraged to do so". ⁸

A number of educational initiatives demonstrate ways to encourage parents to implement this on-road training with their children. For example, the Motor Accident Authority in New South Wales run a Walk Safely to School Day as a high-profile annual event with significant backing from schools. The emphasis is on putting the message across to parents and children that up until the age of ten, children should hold an adult's hand when crossing the road. The aim of the day is to "promote the health benefits of walking and reinforce safe pedestrian behavior".

Information from the Singapore government is also targeted at educating parents and emphasises the role of parents in demonstrating good road safety habits as a pedestrian and as a driver. Their approach stresses that, "each time you exercise a good road safety habit explain to your children the reasons for doing so."⁹

Research on higher pedestrian accident rates among children from ethnic minority groups suggests that there is a need for educational initiatives that specifically target parents from ethnic minorities. These may not only need to be culturally sensitive in terms of language but also need to be developed from an understanding of any differences that exist in relation to how parents from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds influence and interact with their children.

4. Parental Attitudes to Road Safety Education

In this section of the report the findings from both the large scale household survey and the focus groups of parents are analysed.

The survey covered just under two and a half thousand households. The survey was stratified to ensure that respondents were drawn from five different types of residential area:

• Inner City - predominantly traditional Victorian tenement areas
• Outer City - predominantly existing or former public sector housing estates
• Suburban - predominantly more affluent residential areas on the periphery of cities
• Semi-rural - medium and larger size country towns
• Rural - predominantly smaller country towns and villages and dispersed settlements.

The survey also assessed trends in parental attitudes in relation to a number of other factors:

• parental gender
• family size and composition
• age of the parent
• employment status (working and non-working parents)
• ethnic origin
• whether the parent had a disabled or non-disabled child.

It is worth commenting that there turned out to be reasonably significant variations according to types of geographical location and ethnic origin , however there were relatively few variations across gender, age group or occupational status of parents.

During the door to door survey, those responding were asked if they would be prepared to take part in further research in the form of a local focus group meeting to explore in more detail the themes which were emerging from the household survey and to test out with groups of parents and children, some of the ideas about ways in which parents can be more effective in the development of road safety skills in their children.

A total of 26 focus groups were held, 13 with parents, seven with 7 to 13 year olds and six with 14 to 18 year olds.

4.1 Parental Understanding of Children's Road Safety Risks

4.1.1 Parents of 7-13 Year Olds

Around half (48%) of parents of the younger age group interviewed in the household survey felt that the local area in which they lived, in relation to road safety, was either "very" or "fairly" safe, with a slightly smaller proportion (44%) considering the area either "very" or "fairly" unsafe. Most parents living in inner cities tended to perceive the area they lived in as unsafe (57%) contrasting with parents in "semi-rural" areas, of whom less than a third (32%) saw their local area as "unsafe".

The main road related risk that parents of 7-13 year olds perceived was of "speeding traffic", with 77% citing this as the main risk to their children. While all parents, regardless of the type of area they lived in, considered speeding traffic as the main risk to their children, there were significant variations between parents living in suburban areas, 83% of whom saw speeding as the main risk, contrasting with 69% of parents living in inner city areas.

Road related dangers were not however seen as the main risk to 7-13 year olds. Across the whole survey sample, road safety came third (22%) with drug/alcohol abuse (26%) and violence/bullying/intimidation (24%) both seen as more prevalent risks. However among parents living in outer city areas, road related risks were clearly the main risk seen for the younger age group, with over a third (34%) of parents citing road safety as the main risk faced by their children. Parents living in suburban areas were half as likely (17%) to consider road safety as the main risk faced by their children, with only one parent in six (15%) living in rural areas taking this view.

Younger parents i.e. those aged less than 30 years, were significantly more inclined to see road safety as the main risk faced by their children (35%) compared with parents over 30 years (20%). This could be attributed to the likelihood that the children of the younger parents group were more likely to be at the lower end of the 7-13 year old age band.

Six per cent of the parents surveyed indicated that their child had some form of disability, of which a quarter reported that this affected their child's mobility. This group of parents were more likely to perceive road related risks as the main risk faced by their children, (30%), than parents of 7-13 year olds as a whole.

Thirteen percent of all parents surveyed indicated that they felt that abduction was the main risk they thought about. The views expressed by parents involved in the household survey about risk were broadly echoed in the consultations with parents in the focus groups. However, when the relative risks to younger children were explored, parents in the focus groups indicated that there were certain risks which were perceived as more worrying - for example the risk of abduction, than the risk of being involved in a road accident, although the actual chances of being involved in a road accident were statistically much higher than being abducted. The most commonly given explanation for this in focus groups was the much higher media profile given to cases of child abduction and violence compared with road accident cases. Additionally, when road accidents are covered in the media they tend to be "one off" reports, whereas child abductions are reported over a much longer and sustained period.

4.1.2 Parents of 14-18 Year Olds

Parents' perceptions of road safety related risks reduced slightly as children got older. While overall, road related risks came after drug and alcohol abuse and violence and bullying, less than one in five (19%) parents considered it the main risk to their teenage children. This contrasted with one in three parents who felt that drug and alcohol abuse was the main risk their children faced.

Interestingly, an equal proportion (30%) of parents living in outer city areas considered road related risks and drug/alcohol abuse to constitute the main risks faced by their children.

Perceptions of the safety of the local area by parents of the older age group was broadly similar to parents of the younger age group with 50% of parents considering it very or fairly safe and 40% considering it fairly or very unsafe. As with parents of the younger age group, parents in inner and outer city areas were more likely to see their area as being unsafe than safe, while parents in suburban, semi-rural and rural areas were more likely to see their local areas as safe.

Again, as with the parents of the younger age group, the parents of teenage children predominantly (76%) felt that "speed of traffic" was the main road related danger for their children. There were few area differentials in terms of this among the parents of older children. In comparison, there were noticeable locational variations among parents of younger children. Eighty one per cent of parents in outer city areas saw the "speed of traffic" as the main road related danger compared to seventy per cent of parents living in rural areas.

As with parents of the younger age group, parents of teenage children with a disability which affected their mobility were more likely to see road related risks as the main danger than parents of the teenage age group as a whole (27% compared to 19%).

When risks were explored in the focus groups, it was clear that as children become teenagers, parents become much more concerned about the prevalence of drugs and alcohol than other risks.

In all the focus groups, parents expressed levels of concern about the road safety of their children. Although road safety was still important for parents of older children, they classed it as less of a concern compared to issues such as drugs and violence:

"When my son goes out I'm more worried about him getting beaten-up than being run over."

"Road safety is still a worry at their age but it's not the biggest concern."

A parent of an older child in another group commented:

"It's definitely a problem that you have at the back of your mind but it isn't prominent over other worries."

4.2 Parents' Concerns about Road Safety

4.2.1 Parents of 7-13 Year Olds

Parents of the younger age group surveyed predominantly indicated that their children were aware of the need for road safety, with, overall ninety two percent indicating that their children were either "very well" or "well" aware. There were no significant variations in the perceptions of their children's awareness between parents living in different geographical areas. The most significant variation was between parents of ethnic minority origin, of whom about eighty percent felt that their children were "aware" of the need for road safety compared with ninety two percent of children of white parents.

Most parents surveyed (91%) also felt that they had done sufficient to develop road safety awareness in their children. Less than one per cent of parents felt that they had "not done enough". These views were shared in the same proportions of parents, regardless of geographical areas, gender or ethnic origin.

While these responses would suggest an element of complacency, discussion in the focus groups would indicate that road safety was still a matter of concern to parents of the younger age group.

4.2.2 Parents of 14-18 Year Olds

As with parents of the younger age group, parents of teenage children generally felt that they were well aware of the need for road safety, with a similar 92% indicating that their children were either very well or well aware. As with the parents of the younger age group there were no significant variations in parents' attitudes based on their geographical location, however parents of ethnic minority origin reported lower levels of confidence in their children's awareness than white parents (81% compared with 92%).

Again, as with parents of the younger age group, most parents of teenagers (95%) felt that they had done enough to develop road safety awareness and skills in their children.

There is a popular perception that as young people enter their teens, their approach and attitude towards road safety changes. This was borne out in the survey, with over a third of parents (35%) indicating that they felt their teenage children's road safety awareness and skills "deteriorate as they get older". Apart from parents from inner city areas, in all other areas surveyed, more parents thought their children's road safety skills and awareness deteriorated as they got older than those who felt they improved.

The most negative influence that parents saw on their teenage children in relation to their road safety skills was that of their friends and peers, with 44% citing this. Parents saw themselves as the main positive influence on the development of attitudes to road safety with around two thirds of parents (64%) considering this. Less than one in twelve parents of teenage children (8%) indicated that "education" (i.e. school related activities) had the most positive influence.

This theme was developed in the focus groups, where a significant proportion of parents of teenagers suggested that it was when they were in the company of their friends and peers that their road safety behaviour was at its worst. This ranged from the increased tendency to be distracted and pre-occupied by the company of friends through to " horsing around" and on to " deliberately acting up in front of their friends".

4.2.3 Behaviour encouraged in 7-13 Year Olds

Parents were asked what types of activities they had used to develop road safety awareness in their children. Only 4% reported not using any form of structured activity. The most predominant activity used by parents (66%) was to instruct their children to "Stop, Look, Listen". This was closely followed by instruction in the Green Cross Code (61%) and "Look right, look left, look right again" (57%).

Other behaviours encouraged included "avoid crossing between parked cars" (29%), "crossing at a pedestrian crossing" (25%) and "wearing bright clothes" (16%).

Responses to this question did demonstrate some contradictions in parents' attitudes. For example, while over 60% indicated that they had used the Green Cross Code, over 70% of parents indicated that they did not instruct their children not to cross between parked cars. An important element of the Green Cross Code is instructing children in finding a safe place to cross and it states the importance of children crossing from a place from which they are clearly visible to drivers.

Exploring this further in focus groups, it became clear that many parents were unaware what the Green Cross Code actually comprised, confusing it with other structured or semi-structured road safety activities.

Interestingly some forms of behaviour were encouraged by relatively small numbers of parents. For example, only 7% of parents indicated that they had instructed their children "to walk on the same side as on-coming traffic if there is no pavement". While it is understandable the fewer parents living in "outer city" areas might provide this form of instruction (3%), than parents living in rural and semi-rural areas, at 7% and 9% respectively, these appear to be worryingly low levels. (This issue is explored further in Section 4.3.1 below).

In relation to other road and travel situations, parents reported encouraging other safety related behaviour. For example when travelling by car, a third of parents (33%) would instruct their children always to get out on the kerb side and two thirds (66%) would instruct their children to use seat belts. However less than a third (29%) of parents would advise their children to wear a helmet when cycling, and less than a sixth (12%) indicated that they would insist on their children waiting until a bus had stopped before getting on.

Again the focus group discussions suggested that parents were more likely to develop road safety skills in their children, by example and ad hoc instruction and advice in "real life situations" rather than by more planned and structured approaches.

4.2.4 Behaviour encouraged in 14-18 year Olds

The pattern of behaviour encouraged in teenage children was not markedly different from that reported by parents of the younger age group. While just under half of the parents of the younger age group would accompany their children on the journey to school, this proportion had fallen to less than a third of parents of teenage children. However, the view derived from focus group discussions was that while the motivation for accompanying younger children was more safety related, with older children it was more related to the parent's journey to work coinciding with the "school run", or where older children were taken to school along with their younger siblings. The proximity of the school and the relative availability of school transport also were factors in determining whether the child was accompanied to school or not.

As with the younger age group, most parents of teenagers recollected using a range of structured activities when their children were younger - mainly the Green Cross Code, (63%) "Stop, Look and Listen" (64%) and "Look right, look left, look right again" (58%) to develop safe road crossing behaviour. However when this issue was explored in focus groups with the parents of teenage children, it was clear that they were unlikely to use these activities as their children had become teenagers. Parents were however more likely to encourage safe road user behaviour by example when out with their teenage children - 56% of parents reported that they "still try to develop their (teenage children's) road safety skills by example, (even) changing their own behaviour at times"

Within the focus groups, two recurring themes were raised by parents of teenagers. The first was that they were reasonably confident in their teenage children's abilities to deal with road and travel related situations safely. Secondly, the difficulty that many parents of teenagers have in raising issues of risk with them. Teenage years were seen as the stage in the person's development when they were much more likely to take risks in a wide range of situations. A further theme was the influence of their peers.

4.3 Parents' Awareness and Attitudes towards RSE

In this section, the study examined parents' awareness and attitudes to Road Safety Education.

4.3.1 RSE with the younger age group (7-13 years)

When asked where the main responsibility for Road Safety Education lies, most parents (63%) felt it was with themselves. A relatively small proportion (6%) held the view that the responsibility should rest with their child's school. Just under a third of parents (30%) were of the view that the responsibility for RSE lay with a combination of parents, schools and police.

Most parents felt that road safety was ultimately the responsibility of the parent. In all of the groups, parents were seen as the main influence on the initial development of road safety knowledge. However, once a child begins school, parents often viewed their role as reinforcing what children were learning in the classroom.

Their view was that although the role of the school was important, road safety is too important to solely remain within the classroom:

"School is quite good…but can't just leave it to them".

Largely, this reinforcing role appeared to be about continuing to ensure the child is a safe road user rather than linking in specifically with what was being learned in school. Some parents demonstrated a lack of awareness about the RSE that their child had received in school. Others were very aware and enthusiastic. Parental involvement in any school related RSE either at home (in the form of help with homework) or in school based activities was minimal.

The household survey contained two questions which were designed to gain an impression of parents' own road safety awareness. First, they were asked "What advice would you give to your children in a situation where they were walking on a road without a pavement". They were then given a range of options, of which one - "Walk on the same side of the road as the on-coming traffic and keep close to the side of the road (and in single file if more than one of you)" was considered the "right answer". With parents of 7-13 year old children, 79% gave this response, 11% gave another answer, 2% indicated that they would not give advice and 8% "didn't know". There were significant variations in responses according to the geographical area, so for example in rural areas, 87% of respondents gave the "right answer", whereas 60% of respondents from "inner city" areas gave the "right answer". Also interestingly there were also significant variations in response depending on the employment status of the parent. Parents who were either in full or part-time employment were much more aware of the "right" advice (80-90%) compared with those not working (unemployed, sick/disabled or retired), with 50-75 % of this group providing the "right" advice.

The second question aimed at "testing" road safety awareness, was "When walking on a pavement with you, where would you advise your children to walk". Again there was a "right answer" - "on the inside of you, furthest from the road". In this case, 92% of parents of 7-13 year olds overall, gave this answer. However as with the previous question, there were some significant variations according to the geographical area of the respondent. For example, 98% of parents in suburban areas gave the "right answer", whereas 84% of inner city parents gave the "right answer".

4.3.2 Membership of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland

Another aspect of the study was to develop a better understanding of how parents approached RSE with both age groups. In the household survey, parents were asked if their children had been members of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland and if they used the CTCS material with their children. Across all respondents, 36% of parents indicated that their children had been members of the CTCS. The survey confirmed the findings of previous research ¹⁰ which highlighted the variations in levels of membership of the CTCS across demographic groups. In this case, there were significant variations in membership levels across different geographic areas. So for example while membership levels were as high as 44% in rural areas and 42% in suburban areas, they were reported as low as 25% in inner city areas and 27% in outer city areas. The average membership levels in the ethnic minority community were reported at 21%, whereas in the white community, these were considerably higher at 37%. Not unsurprisingly, fathers reported a lower level of membership (30%) of the CTCS than mothers (38%). This was assumed to reflect levels of awareness among parents about their child's membership. Reinforcing previous research on the demographic patterns of CTCS membership, the survey found that 7-13 year old children of working parents were considerably much more likely to be members (45%), than children of non-working parents (7%).

The survey went on to consider whether parents whose children had been members of the CTCS, had used its resources with their children. Over half (55%) of parents had used the CTCS materials "regularly", 42% used them "occasionally" and 3% reported never using them. Again there were significant variations in patterns of use of CTCS material across parents from different geographical areas. Interestingly, where membership levels were low, in for example outer city areas, use of the materials by parents whose children were members was relatively high with 66% reporting that they used them regularly. This could be contrasted with the situation in suburban areas, where membership levels are relatively high, but the regular use of the material was comparatively low at 45%.

Ethnic minority parents were not only less likely to have children in membership of the CTCS, but even where they were, they were much more likely not to use the materials (18% against 3% of white parents).

Younger parents (16-29 years age group) of younger children were more likely to use the CTCS materials, with over two thirds reporting that they had, compared with just over half of the parental older age group (30-59 years).

Parents were asked if they used any other resources to develop road safety awareness in their children. Fourteen percent of parents indicated that they did, with the remainder indicating that they did not. Possibly reflecting the patterns of use of the CTCS materials, 18% of parents in suburban areas reported using other materials, whereas 10% of parents in outer city areas reported this.

4.3.3 Other approaches to Road Safety Education

Finally, parents were asked to what extent they taught road safety "by example". This would include parents possibly changing their own behaviour when they were with their children, for example only crossing a road when "the green man was on". Clearly this was the main way in which parents developed road safety skills, with 97% of respondents indicating that they did this, albeit, around a third of parents of 7-13 year olds did this when the children were younger, but not necessarily as they got older. Interestingly, only 8% of respondents indicated that their approach to road safety was the same whether or not their children were with them, with 89% indicating that they would behave differently in situations such as crossing a road if they were not with their children.

This was explored in more detail in the focus groups. While parents often reported using structured activities (as discussed in above in Para 4.2.3) and other resources, by far the predominant approach to developing road safety awareness in younger children was to reinforce key messages and behaviour when in practical road situations. However, the focus groups confirmed that for many parents, it was a question of, "do as I say, not as I do".

4.3.4 RSE with the older age group (14 -18 years)

In relation to their approaches to road safety education, parents' of the older age group responses to many of the survey questions was very similar to those of the younger age group. One area of the survey which presents some anomalies was in relation to membership of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland. Membership within the older age group was reported at 27% (compared with 36% in the younger age group). The anomaly is that the CTCS was only formed in 1995. The first cohort of children "eligible" for membership would have been born in 1992. The youngest children in the older age group would have been born in 1989. Consequently it is unlikely that any of these young people would have been members of the CTCS.

Use of "other resources" by parents of teenagers for road safety education was significantly lower however than levels reported by parents of the younger age group (7% compared with 14%). There are of course a number of explanations for this including the availability of materials which clearly has been much greater in recent years, as well as the accuracy of parents' recollection, given that much of the development of road safety awareness of their children will have taken place several years earlier.

Few parents consulted had expectations that the secondary school had a role in the development of basic road safety awareness. It was generally felt that these should be developed by the time their children reached secondary school. If the secondary school had any role, views expressed included:

"Making sure that children behave when travelling on school buses"

"When they all rush out of school at the end of the day and there's a huge crowd crossing the road, ignoring the cars - they seem to feel that there is safety in numbers"

A number of parents raised the issue of the development of "defiant behaviour" especially in a significant proportion of teenage boys:

"You almost feel they're daring you to run them over"

"They seem to deliberately walk off the pavement without looking "

However, the shared view was that there would be little the school could do about this. It was seen as a part of a much wider range of "anti-social" behaviours that many adolescents go through:

"How can we get them to behave more considerately to others as a whole? The way they behave in roads is just a part of a wider problem" - "the Ned culture"

Other behaviours cited by parents, which they felt it would be useful if schools could help do some thing about included "aggressive cycling on busy pavements", and "skateboarding through crowds and in public places"

Secondary schools were also seen as having a role in developing responsible attitudes to drugs and alcohol, the abuse of which was seen as a major road safety related issue:

"I think half of the kids who just walk out across the street are either drunk or stoned"

"I know that young men driving under the influence of drugs seems to be a greater problem than drink driving"

4.3.5. Young people and driver education

The view expressed by most parents was that the secondary school's main role arose through assisting young people to develop responsibility and consideration for others that were essential in teaching them to become independent young adults as well as potential drivers.

Most parents of teenagers (75%) anticipated that their teenage children would learn to drive. The only significant differences were among parents who felt that their children were not interested in driving, with only 2% of parents in rural areas expressing this view contrasting with 12% in inner city areas.

Interestingly, parents' concerns about the dangers faced by their teenage children when driving or learning to drive tended to focus on the behaviour of other drivers, rather than the skills or (lack of) experience of their children. For example, 31% of parents felt that "dangerous driving by others" was a risk, compared with 25% who felt that "inexperience (on the part of the young driver) in different conditions" was likely to be a risk. Twenty five per cent of parents thought that "impatience on the part of other drivers" was a risk, compared with 19% who felt that impatience on the part of the young driver was a danger. These views were explored further in the focus groups. While accepting that many of the risks and dangers faced by young people in relation to road safety could be attributed to their own behaviour, parents generally felt that a greater threat was presented by "external" factors, notably the behaviour of (other) motorists.

Parents had mixed views on whether their driving style would have an influence on their children, with 56% of those who drive, indicating that it would, while 44% indicated that it did not or they did not know. However, when the responses were analysed in relation to parental age, only 26% of younger (under 30 years) parents felt that their driving was an influence compared with 44% of parents over 30 years.

Previous research ¹¹ has highlighted the relationship between social deprivation and likelihood of being involved in a road related accident. One theory postulated for this has been the prevalence of driving/non-driving and the influence that this has on attitudes towards road safety. The thinking is that households where driving is the norm have undergone more road safety awareness training in the form of driving instruction. While not a main objective of this study, the findings of the survey in relation to driving are interesting. For example the proportion of parents in inner city households responding to the survey who did not drive was 39%, whereas in suburban households, this was 22%, in rural households 16% and in semi-rural households, as low as 11%. In the ethnic minority households surveyed, non-driving parents constituted 32%, whereas in white households, it was 20% overall.

A significant proportion of parents (44%) indicated that they had been involved in developing an awareness of the skills required in driving with their teenage children and more (56%) had aimed to influence their children in the types of behaviour good driving requires.

Most parents (88%) felt that their teenage children viewed issues such as "speeding in a built up area" as unacceptable and even drinking and driving up to the legal limit, 87%, felt that their children regarded this as unacceptable.

Teenagers have been generally perceived as a difficult group with which to undertake road safety education and discussions confirmed this. Most parents felt that their teenage children would tend to "rebel" against any efforts to promote road safety overtly with them.

4.4 Children and Young People's Attitudes

In order to understand children's and young people's perceptions of road safety, and to compare these with those of parents, a total of 13 focus groups with young people were held throughout Scotland. Of the 13 groups held, seven were with 7 to 13 year olds and six were with 14 to 18 year olds.

4.4.1 Young people's awareness of risks

Young people were initially asked about the risks which they face when walking, and how these compare to the risks which adults face. Road safety was not always an immediate concern for all young people, with some initially focussing on risks relating to personal safety, such as fears about being 'beaten up' or getting into a fight.

The overwhelming majority of young people, across all age groups, believed that children faced more risks than adults in terms of road safety when they are walking. The one key factor identified for this increased risk was the way in which young people behave when walking on the streets:

"Young people take chances, they just run in front of cars"

"Adults are more wise. Young people think they can get across the road without being hit by a car."

The most common explanation for the way in which young people behaved in terms of road safety was that "they think that nothing could happen to them". Young people felt that often people their age realised that it was dangerous to 'take chances' when crossing the road, but they didn't think that they would ever get hurt. In contrast, the focus group participants felt that adults have "more sense" than children, and that "adults are more responsible". However, one participant stated that - "Adults are just people. Anybody can make a mistake on the road".

Overall, young people believed that their peers behaved most dangerously when they were leaving school, as at this time they were often with a large group of friends and had a tendency to "show off".

Two groups of young people also suggested that it was the behaviour of young, especially male drivers which puts the safety of other young people in danger:

"They drive really fast past the school and try to scare us"

"Young drivers - the boy racers - they're the ones that have just passed their test, go really fast all round Castlemilk. The speed bumps don't stop them, they just put their wheels between them and keep going"

In this way, young male drivers were perceived as a particular danger to young children, especially when driving past schools and through residential areas where children are likely to be playing. As with their parents, speeding cars was seen as one of the main road related risks they faced.

However, few risks were identified which did not relate to the behaviour of young people. One focus group did discuss the impact of the large volume of traffic on the roads and the fact that lots of cars were parked outside their schools:

"There are hundreds of motors outside my school"

"There is too much traffic and not enough help"

This group felt that "cars waiting outside schools is dangerous" as it means that it is difficult for people walking to and from school to cross the road, with it being more busy generally and more difficult to see passing traffic.

Very few risks were identified in relation to the design of roads. The only person to mention this stated:

"The pavements are narrow on the way to school, and you might fall off onto the road"

A number of young people expressed particular concern regarding safety when walking at night time. Many stated that this was the most dangerous time as it was difficult for drivers to see people crossing. In particular, a number of children within the 7 to 13 age group indicated that they didn't feel safe crossing in the dark unless they were with their parents.

Based on these risks, participants were asked how old children should be before they can walk to school unaccompanied by an adult. It was generally felt that children should be between ten and twelve years old before walking to school unaccompanied. However, most young people indicated that it depended on how busy the route to school is and the maturity of the child.

Participants in the focus groups of 14 to 18 year olds were asked whether they felt that their road safety skills improved as they got older. All of the participants agreed that this was the case, and many felt that this was particularly related to learning to drive:

"You get your driver's licence and you do your theory test"

"You know the speeds of cars… you can judge better"

This view was at odds with a significant proportion of parents, around a third of whom felt that their children's skills deteriorated as they entered their teens.

Travelling to school by bus and car were generally perceived as very safe methods of getting to school. Travelling by car was perceived as safest as "it's the quickest way and you don't need to cross any roads". Overall, it was felt that travelling by bus or car avoided the risks posed by walking, and there were very few risks identified regarding these methods of travel. However, one participant stated:

"When people are waiting for the bus there are lots of them and they stand there and play around. Sometimes they fall or get pushed onto the road"

None of the children participating in the focus groups cycled to school, with most feeling that it was dangerous to cycle on busy roads and preferring to go to parks or other quiet areas to cycle in their free time. Approximately half of the participants stated that they owned a bicycle. The majority indicated that they cycled much more in the summer when it was light and better weather. There were a small number of keen cyclists, but generally young people tended to use their bikes only occasionally, for example to cycle "to the shops".

Of those who cycled, the majority felt that they were able to cycle relatively safely. Parents were particularly influential in teaching their children how to cycle, with almost all cyclists stating that their parents had taught them. In addition, a small number of young people in the 7 to 13 age group indicated that they only go cycling when their parents are with them.

While all of those who had participated in cycle proficiency training at Primary School felt that this was useful, some of them had difficulty remembering much about what they were taught.

4.4.2 Attitudes towards driving

All of the young people aged between 14 and 18 expressed a desire to learn how to drive, and one 17 year old had applied for a provisional licence. None of those attending the focus groups had formally begun learning to drive, or had passed their driving test. Young people in this age group were very interested in driving, and were keen to discuss their views on learning to drive. In particular, those in rural areas tended to feel that it was necessary to be able to drive in order to "get about" and "not have to rely on anyone else".

Many of the 14 to 18 year olds had already begun to informally learn to drive, generally through their parents:

"My parents taught me how to drive, I asked all about it"

"My mum's always going on about it - what the biting point is, when to change gears"

Many had already had "shots at driving" and had learned "how to drive in open spaces". These young people felt that they knew the basics of how to drive, but would need more experience of dealing with busier roads.

The majority of young people felt that parents had a very important role in teaching young people to drive:

"Parents should show you how to drive, give you clues… I think they realise it's important, like for getting a job"

"I think you should begin to learn when you're about ten or twelve years old, even if your parents just talk to you in the car and show you what they're doing"

However, in some cases, young people appeared to want to learn to drive before their parents were prepared to teach them. Two individuals, both aged 14, stated that they had learned to drive from an older sibling or a young neighbour, without the knowledge of their parents.

Almost all young people felt that they needed further information about road safety before learning to drive:

"We need to know a lot more, but we also need to be reminded about road safety"

Young people were also aware that they would need to know about road safety in order to pass the driving theory test:

"Its going to be difficult, you need to know everything and you need to study"

Overall, the key areas which young people felt they needed more information about when learning to drive included:

• what speed to drive at and how to control your speed
• dealing with different types of road e.g. roundabouts
• education on what road signs mean
• what to do in an accident
• information on how cars work and how to maintain them.

While young people generally felt that parents should be involved in showing and teaching their children how to drive, it was felt that education on road safety matters as detailed above should be covered both by parents and by schools.

4.5 The extent to which parents are willing to become Involved in RSE and how this might be facilitated

The final objective of the study was to assess the extent to which parents would wish to become more involved in the road safety education of their children and how this might be encouraged and supported.

4.5.1 Parental Willingness to become involved in Road Safety Education

Generally, as reported above, most parents tend to feel that they have undertaken sufficient road safety education with their children. However, there was a significant proportion of parents of the younger age group (43%) who indicated a willingness or interest to become involved in road safety education in conjunction with their child's school. There were significant variations in the level of interest in parents becoming involved in road safety education depending on the type of area, with over half of parents living in outer city areas expressing an interest, but with this falling to less than a third of parents in semi-rural areas.

With the older age group, the level of interest of parents being involved in road safety education in schools was still relatively high at 40%. Again, as with the parents of the younger age group, parents living in outer city areas were most likely to express an interest in being involved.

When this was explored further in focus groups, parents were asked about ways that RSE could be improved and their involvement increased. On the whole most parents expressed an interest in greater involvement in the road safety education of their child. However, parents in the 7-13 age group tended to believe this was more realistic than those in the older age group.

Parents of 14 -18 year olds tended to feel that they had "done as much as they could" in relation to their child's basic road safety knowledge. They sometimes felt parents were not the best person to promote safe road use to teenage children, and questioned how receptive older children would be to RSE:

"They would think it was something they already know about…not cool"

"You can only educate them so much…you can't stop them from being silly"

However, many of them recognised they still had a role to play in encouraging safe driving behaviour, and were open to ideas as to how they could help their children become safer drivers.

Parents viewed the role of the school as crucial in improving their own RSE role. Overall, they were in favour of practical approaches to RSE rather than "paper and workbook" based resources.

4.5.2 Facilitating the involvement of parents in RSE

The survey provided data on the types of resources that parents felt would assist them with their role in road safety education. Most parents generally felt that they had access to sufficient information (82% of parents of 7-13 year olds, 87% of parents of 14 -18 year olds). Of those who felt that they would benefit from more information, the main ways of providing them with guidance were:

• Learning Packs (38%) - younger parents i.e. those less than 30 years were much more interested in the availability of learning packs (61%) than parents over the age. Similarly parents living in outer city areas were much more interested than parents in rural areas (51% compared with 30%).
• Leaflets (26%) - parents from inner city areas were much more interested in these than those from suburban areas and rural areas (41% compared with 17%)
• Training Sessions/talks (24%) - white parents expressed considerably more interest in talks and training sessions compared with non-white parents (26% compared with 10%).
• Video/DVD (30%) - surprisingly these were of more interest to "older" parents i.e. those over 30 years, than "younger" parents (34% compared with 15%).
• Websites/CD-Rom (12%) - this form of support was of more interest to parents living in and rural areas than those living in outer city areas (18% compared with 2%)

Suggestions from focus groups on ways to improve the involvement of parents in RSE included:

• Leaflets directed at parents
• Involve parents in practical road safety training at school (7-13 year age group)
• More resources for parents to use with their children
• More facilities for practical training - "pretend" roads to teach safe crossing
• Greater focus on fun and interactive activities such as computer games
• Better information from schools regarding what children are learning about road safety and how parents can get involved
• Advertising targeted at children and parents
• CD-ROMs or games (particularly computer games)
• Road safety workshops for parents and children, which includes a certificate for a child who attends and involves parents and children in different groups learning about road safety
• Homework and workbooks on road safety that parents are encouraged to help with
• Driving simulations, pre-driver courses, road safety work with a focus on driving for older children.

Parents were asked if they felt that there were any situations or specific skills they would like to develop further. Reflecting the prevalent view that speeding cars was one of the main risks, helping children to develop a better awareness of speed and the dangers of speeding cars was cited as an important area. Related to this, the need for continuing reinforcement of "safe road crossing skills" was emphasised by a number of parents.

One further suggestion was to involve parents more in pre-driver programmes as "co-instructors". The parent would work alongside a teacher to reinforce and help develop safe driving attitudes and awareness. This would also have the benefit of acting as a "refresher" for the parent whose own driving skills may have been affected by "bad habits". Driving related training was seen as a key way of raising road safety awareness with teenage children.

Parents were asked in more detail if they would want to participate in workshops on teaching road safety. Reactions to this were mixed, with some parents indicating that they might take part in a "one-off" session, others less likely to. Generally parents of 7-13 year olds were much more receptive to this than parents of the older teenage group. In a number of focus groups, parents emphasised the need for messages and approaches to road safety education to be consistent with those coming from other sources such as teachers and the police.

5. Consultations with Key Stakeholders

This section summarises consultations with a range of stakeholders involved in road safety education and the education of children and young people.

5.1 Road Safety Officers

Interviews were carried out with Road Safety Officers (RSOs) working in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Dumfries and Galloway.

5.1.2 Role of Road Safety Officers

The involvement of Road Safety Officers in RSE was primarily through interaction with schools and teachers rather than parents. Their role included talks to schools, delivering cycling proficiency training and providing support to teachers to undertake road safety projects.

5.1.3 Parental Involvement in Road Safety

RSOs saw the involvement of parents as crucial, with parents being perceived to have the main responsibility to teach their child road safety. A number felt that, although many parents were concerned about road safety, they were less willing to participate in structured road safety initiatives or see the need to educate their child beyond a certain point. RSOs felt that parents could be extremely influential in influencing road safety habits, but that they did not always realise this.

They highlighted a number of opportunities for parents to be formally involved in RSE, these included Cycle Proficiency Training, Child Pedestrian Training Skills , Walking Buses and Traffic Trails. These are all during the Primary School years and allow parents to participate as volunteer trainers or help in running the programme. RSOs found that many of the parents participating in such schemes found it enjoyable and valuable.

However, RSOs reported difficulties in getting parents to take part in these activities. They generally found it easier to get parents of younger children involved, due to a parent not having returned to work, or parents seeing road safety as more important in the early years.

A number of the RSOs highlighted that, although parents tended to be relatively well involved in RSE at nursery and early primary school level, by the end of primary school, the number of parents committing time to involvement in education in any subject declined, leaving just a few 'die hard' volunteers that work with the school.

Road Safety staff felt that the parents tending to take part in road safety initiatives were "the usual suspects" who would generally participate or be receptive. A key issue was the more difficult to reach parents, as they may be the ones that are less likely to be teaching their child safe road user skills.

RSOs had no feel for the number of parents using road safety resources with their children at home, however, a number suspected that this declined as the child grew older.

One RSO was also concerned about the level of practical road user experience parents were giving their children through use of cars and concerns over personal safety:

"Parents don't give children enough autonomy on the roads and the chance to try things out in a safe way".

Parental involvement in relation to road design issues was seen as easier to achieve. One RSO had worked in partnership with parents in arranging monitoring of traffic congestion at a local school. This was found to make a difference to the levels of congestion and worked well because it was a joint response to something that had been raised by parents. A number of RSOs had found that if parents highlight a particular road safety problem it is easier to get them involved.

However, they also felt that parental interest tended to focus on the need for specific road engineering measures, especially around the vicinity of local schools, and that once changes were made to the road layout, levels of interest deteriorated again.

One road safety officer mentioned sometimes giving talks to Parent and Teacher Associations, but this was seen to reach a limited number of parents.

5.1.4 Obstacles to Parental Involvement

Parents of younger children were seen as more likely to get involved in RSE. RSOs sometimes felt that parents did not realise the influence they had, and could have, over their children's skills. Although they come across many parents for whom road safety is an ongoing concern, many parents feel "that they have done enough" once their child reaches a certain age.

Parents working, lack of time and apathy were cited as major factors preventing parental involvement.

Some Road Safety Officers highlighted increased difficulties in getting parental involvement in socially deprived areas. One commented that in these areas, "parents feel they can't contribute and self-esteem affects their willingness to get involved", with parents also feeling that they need certain skills to participate.

5.1.5 Resources

A number of the RSOs felt that there were already suitable materials and resources available for parents to use with their children, including CTCS materials, but the difficulty was getting parents to use them:

"the material and opportunities are there but we need to make the right links so that parents start using them and putting lessons into practice".

Although there were fewer resources to use with teenage children, RSOs questioned whether resources for parents and teenage children to use together would be the right approach.

Some felt there was scope to increase the amount and nature of resources targeted at educating parents, saying these needed to be more adult orientated in their design and content to be attractive to parents.

RSOs pointed to a lot of money being spent on leaflets, that often "go straight into the bin", with parents being "over-loaded" with information on the health and safety of their children.

5.1.6 Increasing Parental Involvement

Overall, the Road Safety Officers saw increasing parental involvement as a "challenging issue". They did feel that there was scope to increase parental involvement in their child's RSE but that there is a need to find the "right hook for them" and that it was very important to reach a wider body of parents than are being reached at the moment.

Suggested approaches to increasing involvement included:

• ensuring parents are not intimidated by involvement or feel that it will involve a huge commitment on their part
• increased guidance to parents on the best ways to educate children on road safety
• better communication between schools and parents so parents are aware of the RSE being done in schools and how they can support it
• implementing programmes which will "interest and involve parents and children" and present RSE in a fun and exciting way.

5.2 Child Pedestrian Training Skills Co-ordinators

The Child Pedestrian Training Skills is a pilot scheme operating in twelve local authorities in Scotland. There is a large scale evaluation of the scheme being undertaken during 2004.

5.2.1 Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh Council is within 'Tranche Two' of the Child Pedestrian Training Skills initiative and the Co-ordinator was appointed in May 2003. He is working with seven schools in the Pilton, Muirhouse and Granton areas within North Edinburgh. These areas were targeted as areas with high accident rates and social deprivation (levels of free school meals were used as an indicator of social exclusion).

The programme has three levels of skills within the programme:

Skill One - Finding a Safe Place to Cross
Skill Two - Crossing Near Parked Cars
Skill Three - Crossing at Junctions

The Edinburgh programme is currently working on Skill Two. The programme is targeted at primary one and two children, and the programme in Edinburgh has so far focussed on primary two, although is about to expand to primary one in the near future.

Parental volunteers are asked to join the programme in order to work with the children in developing these skills. It has been relatively difficult to get parents to participate in the programme - although following letters and articles in the local paper enough volunteers were attracted to run the programme at each of the schools. In order to attract parents to participate, the programme is run in five week bursts which cover each of the skill levels. The parents are also offered tea, coffee and biscuits and made to feel welcome and comfortable when in the school. Those parents becoming involved in the initiative have largely been enthusiastic.

There is evidence that this approach is changing the behaviour of parents outwith their involvement on the programme. Many parents have indicated that they are now much more aware of their own approaches to road safety when out with their children.

Children also appear to enjoy the programme. The aim is that children work out the dangers themselves, rather than simply being informed by parents or the Co-ordinator. This is a more interactive approach which the children appear to find more enjoyable and memorable. It is hoped that this will be remembered as children get older and will impact on their behaviour in the future.

Schools involved in the programme were generally very well aware of the high accident rates around the school. There had been a number of high profile road accidents in the areas covered, and this led to a higher degree of interest in the Child Pedestrian Training Skills initiative.

5.2.2 West Dunbartonshire

West Dunbartonshire Road Safety Unit are currently within Year Two (Tranche One) of the Child Pedestrian Training Skills programme, and are working on developing Skill One with this year group. The Co-ordinator works with ten schools which were identified through accident statistics and areas with a high uptake of free school meals as a measure of disadvantage.

Schools tended to be extremely interested, and there is actually more demand for the scheme than it can meet. They have managed to generate a very positive response from parent volunteers, and have attracted an average of five parent volunteers per school. Parents are dedicated, and some have even come back to help with the programme in its second year.

It is also quite a social event, as the parents come back to the schools and have a coffee and a chat. It has managed to build up links between the parents and schools, with some parents even going on to gain work within the schools as administrative workers.

The children enjoy the scheme and are clearly learning from it. They are now able to clearly identify safe places to cross, and remind their parents how to cross safely. They go out in groups of three or four with one parent, and they tend to like the fact that they meet other people's parents. The parents are also definitely becoming more aware of the need for road safety, and are changing their behaviour when away from the school.

It is anticipated that a similar scheme could be introduced for older children. There is certainly demand from parents, with many being concerned that their older children don't learn about road safety in the same way.

5.2.3 East Ayrshire

East Ayrshire Council is within 'Tranche Two' of the Child Pedestrian Training Skills initiative and has a total of ten schools involved in the programme. These schools were identified through selection criteria based on road safety accidents and social exclusion, and all schools identified were very interested in participating in the project.

However, of the ten schools involved, to date only six have been able to progress with training due to initial difficulties recruiting parental volunteers, compounded by delays in volunteers receiving clearance from Disclosure Scotland. The length of time taken to process Disclosure Scotland checks is felt to have had a negative impact on the recruitment of volunteers, as some parents who were initially able to help were no longer available after the lengthy delay in processing applications.

The Child Pedestrian Training Skills Co-ordinator indicates that the children appear to enjoy the activities, in particular the fact that children are encouraged to develop strategies themselves for finding safe places to cross the road, rather than being presented with a set of rules. The children also enjoy the fact that the pedestrian skills are taught at the roadside, and skills are progressive and build on from one another. The interaction with adults on the programme is also an aspect which children enjoy, particularly as they are working in small groups of just three children to one adult.

The programme also appears to make parents more aware of the problems and difficulties which children can face while crossing the road.

5.3 Schools

Consultation with a small sample of primary and secondary headteachers highlighted a number of key issues.

5.3.1 Primary schools

Road safety education formed a part of the curriculum of all the schools consulted. This was often delivered with the support of the local road safety unit, who assisted them to access resources and offered training on resources. A couple of the schools were shortly to begin using the new "Streetsense" resources and were currently using "Ways to Safety". They also highlighted RSO input into cycling proficiency training.

There was a general consensus among the primary school consultees that their role was to supplement the role of parents, where primary responsibility for the development of road skills was seen to lie. Head teachers saw parental influence as strong, but some felt that this diminished as the child grew older:

"parents do have a key role in RSE but this is at its strongest in the early years"

Others felt that the role of the school was particularly important, due to parents not always having a positive influence:

"Ideally parents should have the main responsibility for teaching road safety but in practice this does not always happen, which is why it is so important to do RSE in school"

The level to which parents were seen as "proactive" in road safety varied very much from school to school. An example of where parents were particularly proactive was in relation to traffic calming measures:

"the PTA and School Board have been instrumental in pushing for introducing a crossing patrol, better signage around the school, zigzags and other traffic calming measures".

Parental traffic around the school was a key issue for many of the schools, with parents often disregarding information from the school regarding drop off points and procedures.

The consultees were not aware of any resources parents were using, or could use with their children.

A limited number of the schools had done any direct work with parents in relation to road safety. One Head teacher mentioned "volunteer parents" who come in to help children learn to cross roads (real and "mock"), but that it was a small number of parents who participated in this way.

The general level of parental involvement varied between schools, however, none highlighted road safety as a particularly strong area. All the schools felt there was scope for greater parental involvement in road safety but that, "it depends how this is approached", and it would be difficult to engage substantial numbers in any consideration of approaches to road safety education.

Areas of current parental involvement in school activity included parent-teacher workshops on subjects such as bullying, paired reading and ICT. However, the school that was participating in this commented on a poor response, with maybe around eight parents on average attending. Other schools highlighted a system of shared homework and topic work, encouraging parents to work on topics with their child, although there were no direct opportunities where parents could become involved in road safety-related homework:

"the children take home road safety work but there is no real opportunity or pressure for the parent to become involved in this"

In another school teachers send home "weekly tasks" for children to do with their parents, such as finding out about food hygiene, or taking them to the park as part of environmental studies. The Head teacher felt that road safety practice could be incorporated into this:

"there is more scope for making homework a two way process…so that parents are aware of what the school is doing and know how they can reinforce it.".

Consultees were sceptical about the targeting of parents through leaflets sent home through the child or through the mail, and highlighted that parents already receive a lot of information:

"Schools issue lots of information to parents that usually ends up ignored. Getting parents in to the school and interacting with them would be much more effective."

Some consultees did feel that "parents often don't know where to begin" and would welcome resources; these would be most effective if they were:

"clear, simple, illustrative resources such as booklets or videos. Visual depictions are good ways to get the message across about the right way to do things."

"resources or training material should not have too much writing and be easily worded so that the key messages come across, a good idea would be to include diagrams and pictures."

5.3.2 Secondary schools

The main focus of RSE in the secondary schools consulted were in S1 and S2 where there were elements of this in the Personal and Social Development curriculum.

Relatively little else was done until, and if, the school undertook pre-driver training for older S6 pupils. Where this was being undertaken it consisted of driving practice and talks on driving responsibilities. Sixth year was perceived as the most relevant time to do this due to the age of pupils, and space within the curriculum.

None of the schools highlighted areas of parental involvement in RSE during secondary school. Although parental responsibility was still seen as important, the role of the school and parents, was seen to diminish during this stage compared to primary school:

"The role of the school diminishes once children go onto secondary school - it is an incremental dip as children get older."

"Young people feel they know everything there is to know about road safety by the time they reach secondary school"

The schools reported some difficulty in involving parents in discussion of "risk issues" for young people such as drugs, sexual health and bullying. It was generally felt that road safety would fall into the same category. One school highlighted that they hold information evenings for parents on issues such as drugs, the curriculum and parenting, but that these are not well attended.

The secondary Head teachers felt that greater parental involvement in RSE was difficult in the secondary school years:

"children's attitudes to their parents change and the influence of their peer group becomes more important"

"if targeting young people in secondary school you need to look at their peer group"

Secondary teachers did see a continuing role for secondary schools in relation to RSE, "school has a greater influence than media campaigns", but were unsure what the role of parents within this could be. Areas that were highlighted included improved communication with parents to inform them of what children are learning in school and to reinforce their role.

5.4 Scottish Executive

Consultative interviews were held with representatives of the Education Department and Road Safety Cycling and Walking section of the Transport Department. These consultees highlighted a number of key points.

Firstly, consultees agreed that the key to this research is to find ways of accessing the group of parents who are least involved. The Executive would support the idea of creating better linkages between schools and parents and would consider what action is appropriate by the various Executive divisions in the light of this research. These linkages could potentially be achieved through ensuring that schools are more involved in their local communities and understand the parents, with parents and schools working together to decide how to promote information on road safety.

It was also felt that the current requirement for schools to provide information to parents regarding particular aspects of the curriculum, such as the sex education programme, could potentially be encouraged with regard to road safety. This could mean that parents were more in touch with their children's road safety education at school, and could complement this through activities at home.

At present, priority given to road safety at secondary school is probably not high. If young people are indicating that the small amount of road safety education they receive is not particularly useful, it is important to improve the method of delivery. The Education Department would be keen to learn from these lessons and ensure that interactive resources are developed and promoted on topics which young people will find interesting.

For older children, Scottish Executive representatives indicated that they would be largely supportive of starting driver education earlier - "tapping into" interests of young people. This would help them when beginning to drive, and would also understand the behaviour of drivers and gather general road safety knowledge.

The method of road safety education was also felt to be important. While "outside speakers" on Road Safety seem to have been perceived negatively by young people, it depends on the mode of delivery - this needs to be lively, interactive and at the right level. Also there needs to be more consultation with young people about their concerns in relation to road safety and how this can be built into the curriculum. There is an issue with teachers being unable to be sure of the quality and consistency of the contributions from outside speakers (e.g. police, road safety officers).

Finally, it was suggested that the impact of nursery education being introduced for all three and four year olds may be having an impact on the road safety skills and awareness of children as they reach primary school, and that this may be an issue which could be explored through further research.

5.5 Scottish Road Safety Campaign

A representative from the Scottish Road Safety Campaign was interviewed in order to gain a sense of its current thinking on parental attitudes to road safety. In particular, this interview explored the resources currently available to parents wishing to undertake road safety related activities with their children.

The SRSC highlighted that a number of resources were available, including:

• Children's Traffic Club in Scotland (for children aged three to five)
• Street Sense - resource for use by teachers and parents with primary school age children which includes 'homework for parents'. This resource also includes a number of information leaflets for parents
• Websites - developed for a range of road users including primary school age children (Junior Road Safety Officer website and Streetwise Guys websites), and pre-driver education (Get in Lane website)

The Scottish Road Safety Campaign are also currently developing a number of resources for use in schools, which could potentially be linked with parental activities:

• Two resource packs for S3/S4 and S5/S6 - being developed through secondment of two secondary school teachers to the SRSC
• Multimedia resource for secondary schools - currently in consultation stage which will be completed by April 2004, following which the resource will be developed
• Resources for children with special needs - these resources will be updated in the coming year, for children at both primary and secondary school
• Road Safety Award Scheme - a feasibility study is currently being undertaken for the development of an Award Scheme for primary school children
• Expansion of the Junior Road Safety Officer scheme - the SRSC is currently investigating the potential of expanding this scheme from primary schools to lower secondary schools. The scheme would probably be adapted to sit within a wider theme of 'Safety' and encompass other safety issues.

These schemes are all currently either in initial consultation or feasibility study stages, or are in the early stages of being developed. As such, there is scope for these schemes to be adapted and adjusted. Overall, the SRSC indicated that they would be keen to adapt the resources they are currently developing, or develop new resources for parents and young people, dependent upon the results of this study.

5.6 Other Organisations

5.6.1 Parents in Partnership

Parents in Partnership (PiP) is a recently established organisation which aims to increase parental involvement in the work of schools. It is also a lobbying group, aiming to provide a parents point of view and influence changes within schools.

Road safety is one of the areas of concern which has frequently resulted in " parents becoming mobilised".

Parents have been involved in road safety training - for example as volunteers on road safety walks. PiP have found that parents are quite willing to get involved when their child is in the P1 and P2 classes and there is a good response to requests for volunteers at this stage. This was partly due to one of the parents being less likely to be in work while their children are still young. In P7 parental volunteers are needed for cycle training but are much harder to find. As children get older they often prefer their parents not getting involved in this way.

The ability of schools to get parents involved and receptive to new ideas in relation to road safety is extremely variable. Some schools have had very positive experiences of parental involvement, while in others schools there is a lack of experience in encouraging and sustaining parental involvement Road Safety officers can be an important resource to support this.

Initiatives such as "Walk to School" month whereby children get a passport which is stamped each time they walk to school and on completion of the passport they receive a certificate, can have an impact on the number of parents walking their children to school. Often pressure from the child is the best way to reach the parent. Incentivising road safety schemes for the children is a good way of reaching the parent. Parents will also respond if they see a lot of other parents getting involved.

5.6.2 Young Scot

Young Scot is involved in promoting road safety, particularly in connection with driving, through their website portal which acts as an information channel (this has over 1 million "hits" a month) and the Young Scot magazine. Current road safety coverage contains a combination of advice on core driving skills and information on and links to campaigns such as "safe drive, stay alive".

Although they are not directly involved in developing their own campaigns/projects, the organisation indicated that it would be interested in the idea of teenagers taking part in driving skills programmes that would guarantee them cheaper insurance. Young Scot magazine was seen as an effective way of targeting information at teenagers.

6. Findings and Conclusions

In this section, the main findings and conclusions from the study are set out. First the general findings are summarised. Then, each of the main objectives of the study are taken in turn and the findings and conclusions in relation to these are set out.

6.1 General

6.1.1 The literature review has highlighted that current road safety education targeted at parents have tended to reflect the following themes and are based on research to date which has identified a need for:

• Educating parents about where, when and at what age children should be supervised
• Increasing the skills and knowledge of parents in key road safety messages, including driving safety and behaviour
• Complementing the everyday interactions between parents and children so that parents are guided towards progressive and developmental "on-road" training
• Initiatives that bring parents in as partners to complement programmes being delivered through schools.

6.1.2 The majority (63%) of parents perceive themselves as having the main responsibility to develop road safety awareness and skills in their children. Thirty two per cent of parents see themselves as having a shared responsibility with schools, the police and other stakeholders.

6.1.3 Most parents change their own behaviour when in "road related" situations when they are accompanied by their children to act as "role models".

6.1.4 The most prevalent approach to road safety education by parents is by example in "real life" situations, rather than a more "theoretical" approach.

6.1.5 There is a need for educational initiatives to "target" certain groups of parents whose children may be more at risk of involvement in a road accident. These needs include developing approaches that are accessible to parents who themselves have low levels of educational attainment.

6.1.6 There is evidence that black and minority ethnic parents generally have less confidence in their children's road safety skills and awareness than the population as a whole.

6.1.7 Generally parents expressed high levels of confidence in their children's road user skills and awareness. However an area of concern, especially expressed by parents of teenagers was the perceived deterioration in these skills as children became teenagers. This was seen as being a feature of adolescent "non-conforming" behaviour, rather than a lack of understanding or appreciation of unsafe behaviour.

6.1.8 The main purpose of road safety education within the primary school perceived by parents was the reinforcement of basic road user skills, especially safe pedestrian behaviour.

6.1.9 The main focus within the secondary school should be the development and reinforcement of responsible, considerate and mature attitudes within teenagers, which will in turn, reinforce safe road user behaviour.

6.2 Parental understanding of children's road safety risks among the two age groups 7-13 years and 14 -18 years

6.2.1 The main road safety risk perceived by parents of all children while pedestrians, was that of speeding traffic. Children's views developed this further, focusing particularly on speeding by young male drivers.

6.2.2 Parents generally have confidence in their children's road user skills and feel that the main risks came from "external factors" such as driver behaviour rather than the child's behaviour.

6.2.3 Parents of 7-13 year olds were six times more likely to see speeding as a main risk to child pedestrians compared with their children's "poor road safety awareness". Parents of 14-18 year olds were thirteen times more likely to see speeding as a main risk compared with poor road safety awareness.

6.2.4 Road safety is seen as one of the main three risks faced by children of all ages, along with drug and alcohol abuse and violence, bulling and intimidation.

6.2.5 Most parents have a well developed understanding of the road related risks faced by their children.

6.2.6 One area of concern highlighted by the household survey was that around 20% of parents did not or would not be able to give their children correct advice in a particularly risky pedestrian situation (when walking on a road without a pavement).

6.2.7 While it is the aim of the Scottish Road Safety Campaign to ensure a consistency of approach to road safety education across Scotland, there is a continuing need for positive action to address greater levels of risk and poorer levels of skill and awareness, particularly among certain, more disadvantaged sections of the community.

6.3 To find out what parents concerns are about their children in regard to road safety and to see what behaviours parents are encouraging in their children

6.3.1 Most parents felt that their children have developed sufficient skills and awareness of road safety. The majority of parents of the younger age group (7-13 years) encourage safer road behaviour predominantly by example or by repeating certain key road safety messages when in real life situations, "Stop, Look, Listen", "Fasten your seatbelt", rather than engage in more "theoretical" training.

6.3.2 Parents of the older age group recognise that there is a danger of teenage or adolescent children "reacting against" too much advice and warning. They do however tend to provide regular reminders "to take care".

6.3.3 Parents of both 7-13 year olds and 14-18 years shared a concern that their children's approaches to road safety deteriorated when they were with a group of friends, where peer pressure tended to result in less care being taken when in a road or travel situation.

6.3.4 A significant proportion of parents of teenagers felt that their teenage children's road safety awareness and skills deteriorated with age.

6.4 To explore parents' image of road safety education, particularly at secondary school and, for both age groups of children, look into children's attitudes towards road safety education and the control of their parents.

6.4.1 The majority of parents regard road safety education as an important part of their role as parents. Around two thirds of parents see themselves as having primary responsibility for this, while the remaining third see themselves sharing this responsibility with schools and other stakeholders e.g. the police.

6.4.2 Parents of younger children are more likely to reinforce road safety messages more than the parents of older, teenage children. A significant proportion of parents of older teenagers consider it counterproductive to "go on about road safety" to older children.

6.4.3 There are varying levels of understanding and appreciation of what road safety education work is carried out in schools, with a substantial proportion of parents having little knowledge of what is done.

6.4.4 Parents of primary age children see the main role of road safety education in primary schools to reinforce the lessons that they (parents) are primarily responsible for.

6.4.5 A focus for road safety in the secondary school was seen as the preparation of young people for driving. This involved development of responsible attitudes which will inform their approaches to driving, rather than specific driving skills, which are seen as the role of the professional instructor.

6.5 To establish the extent to which parents are willing to become involved in road safety education and how this might be facilitated

6.5.1 A significant proportion of parents surveyed indicated a willingness to get involved in road safety work within the schools their children attend. Consultation with other stakeholders, particularly teachers would suggest that in reality, this is likely to be an over-estimate.

6.5.2 At the same time there are still substantial untapped resources in the form of voluntary parental support with school based activities such as Child Pedestrian Training Skills, Cycle Proficiency Training, Safer Routes, Walking Buses and Pre-driver training programmes.

6.5.3 The main way, however to involve parents is through their role in complementing and helping putting into practice the key road safety skills which are taught both at home and in school. This will involve parents reinforcing key aspects of safe road user behaviour, especially in "real life" situations.

6.5.4 There is continuing need/demand for simple information on key road safety skills from a small but significant proportion of parents, which they can use to improve their children's skills. Any information or materials to be used in supporting parents should be simple and easy to understand.

6.5.5 Already there is a significant involvement by some Road Safety Units with groups such as Parents Teachers Associations and School Boards which can be built upon, through for example the development of joint teacher parent training workshops.

6.5.6 There is particular scope to involve the parents of teenage children in pre-driver education in conjunction with the schools their children attend and local road safety units.

7. Recommendations

In this final section we address the last aim of the study brief which is to "provide recommendations on how to effectively involve parents of the different age groups in road safety education". As suggested in the study brief, some of these ideas have been "tested out" or have been generated by members of the focus groups of parents consulted during the fieldwork stage of the study. Inevitably some other recommendations have derived from the analysis of responses to comments from focus groups and therefore have not yet been tested. Similarly within this section we have included some further recommendations specifically for the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Road Safety Campaign which are designed to assist them focus their future work and role in relation to encouraging parental involvement in Road Safety in general and Road Safety Education in particular.

7.1 There is an extensive amount of road safety education guidance and resources available for use both within schools and by parents. While below we make some recommendations on the development of some new resources, we would recommend that this should be subject to an audit of current material and resources. This audit should also be part of a wider strategic review of available road safety resources and recommendations on areas where these may need to be updated, or where there are gaps in information. This review should also examine in particular the availability and accessibility (including the use of accessible language and formats) of existing resources.

7.2 While many parents report being aware of some of the main structured approaches to teaching road safety, this is clearly not the case. There would be value in providing through both primary and secondary schools, a simple, up to date leaflet which is targeted at the parents of the younger 7-13 year old age group which:

• Sets out road safety strategies for teaching key pedestrian skills including safe crossing, walking on roads without pavements, accompanying less experienced friends, children and siblings
• Summarises the types of road safety work which is being developed in schools and ways in which parents can support and reinforce this.

The aim of this is to ensure, as far as possible, that there is consistency and complementarity between the approaches that parents adopt to road safety education and that being developed in the national strategy for RSE in schools.

7.3 An emerging theme from this research, and other research, is that parents from more disadvantaged backgrounds with poorer basic educational skills e.g. literacy and numeracy are less likely to be able to support the educational development of their children. This is likely to encompass road safety education. We would recommend that the Scottish Road Safety Campaign initiate discussions with Road Safety Units and a number of Community Learning Partnerships to explore the potential to incorporate road safety education with local community learning and adult basic education strategies, particularly in areas designated as Social Inclusion Partnerships.

7.4 There is a significant proportion of the adult population - estimated at around 20% and in some disadvantaged communities, much higher levels, who themselves do not possess all the key skills and awareness of road safety. This presents particular challenges when the adult is also a parent. We would recommend that there is a continuing need for targeted education and publicity campaigns, aimed at ensuring that as far as possible, the whole adult population is made aware of the core road safety messages.

7.5 A significant proportion of parents surveyed indicated an interest in being involved in road safety work in schools. However the experience of other consultees would suggest that it is more difficult to get parents involved than this figure would suggest. While the Child Pedestrian Training Skills programme has afforded opportunities for parents of younger children (5-6 years) to get involved directly in school based RSE, there are not yet the same opportunities for participation by parents of older children (7-13 years). However, programmes such as Safer Routes to School, do in some cases afford opportunities for parent participation. It is recommended that the Scottish Road Safety Campaign encourages (and resources) a pilot project with a small number (two or three) Road Safety Units to develop training awareness raising workshops for parents and teachers of this age group. These workshops could focus on three specific objectives.

• First, to raise awareness of the national road safety education strategy among parents and teachers of this age group
• Secondly, to explore ways in which parents and teachers might be able to develop joint initiatives to enhance road safety education
• Thirdly, the workshop would highlight ways in which parents can best help their children develop the appropriate levels of awareness and skills for their age and support and complement the road safety education work undertaken in schools.

Workshops should be "one off", of a limited duration (no more than two hours), and should aim to equally target both mothers and fathers. Workshops should combine expert input (e.g. the extent to which road related situations present a risk to younger children) practical activities e.g. simulations and role play, as well acting as an opportunity for parents and teachers to jointly explore ways in which they may be able to work together to improve children's road user skills.

The Scottish Road Safety Campaign could produce a simple training pack covering these themes which could be made available to local Road Safety Units.

It is also recommended that a pilot programme is targeted on more socially disadvantaged areas e.g. Social Inclusion Partnership areas.

7.6 While some examples have been cited, we believe that the potential to involve parents in school based pre-driver programmes has not been fully exploited. We would recommend that the Scottish Road Safety Campaign along with a Road Safety Unit which provides training for teachers involved in pre-driver training to develop a programme specifically for a group of parents. This could be developed in partnership with two or three secondary schools with a view to placing parents as "volunteer instructors" in these schools. This pilot could then be evaluated, particularly to assess the potential for replication and extension to other schools throughout Scotland.

This programme could include:

• How a car works
• Why young drivers are more at risk (and create more risk) than older drivers
• Effects of alcohol and drugs on driving capacity
• Highway code, road signs, speed limits
• Accompanied "off road" practice.

The programme could also include elements of the theory part of the driving test.

7.7 While most parents (in excess of 80% of both age groups) surveyed felt they had access to sufficient information about road safety, there is still a significant demand from parents for additional information. We recommend that the SRSC in addition to the leaflet suggested in 7.2, consider the production in DVD/video format of a resource "Helping your child to safety". This would be specifically aimed at parents of the 7-13 year old group. This would identify the main road safety risks identified both by parents, children and road safety professionals:

• Awareness of speeding cars
• Safe crossing
• Being seen
• Wearing seat belts (especially in back seats)
• Behaviour on public and school transport
• "Out and about" with friends.

The DVD would provide advice on ways in which parents can assist their children to reduce the risk in each of these situations.

7.8 The study has relied on parents and children reporting their attitudes and views on road safety. While this has provided a detailed picture, the limitations of this need to be recognised. We would therefore recommend that at some stage, follow up research which looked in more detail at the interaction between parents and children in real life road and travel related situations is undertaken. The aim of this would be to assess the differences between what parents say they do, and what they actually do in real life. This study could probably more usefully focus on a smaller case study approach, to complement the large scale survey conducted for this study. For example it could use observational studies on parents and their children in a range of situations - getting on and off of public transport, crossing busy roads, accompanying children to and from school. This would provide a better understanding of what interactions actually happen between parents and children in road related situations.

7.9 Another area which the study has managed to touch, but it is felt would benefit from further research, is on attitudes of teenagers to road safety. While there has already been some work carried out in this area, the study should focus on how road safety messages can be most effectively conveyed to this group to bring about changes in attitudes and behaviour. This could draw on similar work undertaken to discourage young people from alcohol abuse.

7.10 The Scottish Road Safety Campaign could develop links with Young Scot, to use this magazine to promote key road safety messages to teenagers throughout Scotland.

7.11 Local road safety units are already aware of the key role that parents have in the road safety education of their children. Local road safety strategies should take this into account in the development of local campaigns, promotional and educational activities. While much is undertaken in partnership with schools and directed at children, RSUs may wish to consider how they can target parents more directly, for example through the use of information events, publicity campaigns and participation in community events. This strategy should also take into account that parents who require most information and support are more likely to live in more disadvantaged areas.

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