Children's crossing behavior with an accompanying adult

The present study sought to depict road behaviors of children crossing at a crosswalk without the interference of the observers. Unobtrusive observations of 269 children between the ages of 7 and 11 were made at three crosswalks near an elementary school. 185 of these children crossed the crosswalk without an accompanying adult, and 74 were accompanied by an adult. Of the 74 children accompanied by an adult, 20 held hands with the adult. For each child observed, four unsafe behaviors were taken note of - not stopping at the curb, not looking before crossing, attempting to cross when a car is nearing and running across the road. A Chi-Square test revealed that not looking was the most prevalent unsafe behavior, followed by the combination of not looking and not stopping, and not stopping before crossing. Children accompanied by an adult committed more unsafe behaviors. From these children, more unsafe behaviors were committed amongst those not holding hands with the adult. Recommendations for child pedestrian interventions are suggested.