Assessment of the Safety-Relevance of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Programs. Volume 1, Conduct and Results
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Summary
This 1983 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) addresses the lack of standardized criteria for evaluating pedestrian and bicyclist safety education programs. Prior to this study, federal, state, and local officials lacked a systematic method to determine whether specific educational programs aligned with NHTSA’s research on accident causation and countermeasures. The project aimed to develop the Program Assessment Kit (PAK), a tool designed to help administrators select effective programs and assist developers in improving existing curricula or creating new ones. The researchers developed the PAK using the Worth Assessment Technique, which structures evaluation criteria into a hierarchy weighted by expert opinion. A panel of specialists in safety and education identified 76 factors across three main components: Safety Relevance (content), Instructional Approach, and Materials Adequacy. These factors were weighted differently based on the target age group, reflecting specific accident risks for different demographics. The PAK includes Program Assessment Scales (PAS) for various age ranges, implementation checklists, and guidelines for interpreting program effectiveness. To test the instrument, the team first identified and classified 97 non-NHTSA programs available in the United States as of May 1981. They then conducted a reliability test with 12 evaluators and a full assessment of a sample of 23 programs, each rated independently by three evaluators. The results demonstrated high interrater reliability, with a mean composite score reliability of 0.843. Initial ambiguities in instructions regarding "Attitudes" and "Motivational Approach" were identified and corrected. The assessment of the 23 programs revealed that bicyclist programs generally scored higher than pedestrian programs. The mean composite score for pedestrian programs was 37.5 out of 100, while bicyclist programs scored 42.8. The analysis identified common weaknesses in existing programs, including an overemphasis on irrelevant information (such as bicycle maintenance for young children) and insufficient practice of critical safety behaviors. Many programs also omitted key safety content, such as midblock crossing instructions for pedestrians. The significance of this work lies in the provision of a validated, systematic tool for evaluating safety education. By linking program content directly to NHTSA’s identified accident types and causal factors, the PAK allows decision-makers to objectively compare programs based on their potential to reduce accidents. The report concludes that the PAK is a feasible and useful instrument for educators, administrators, and developers, enabling them to ensure that safety education addresses the specific risks faced by different age groups and utilizes effective instructional methods.
Key finding
Bicyclist safety education programs achieved a higher mean composite safety relevance score (42.8) than pedestrian programs (37.5) when evaluated using the Program Assessment Kit, with both groups showing significant deficits in providing adequate practice of safety behaviors.
Methodology
lab_experiment
Sample size: 23
Provenance
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- Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation