Child pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity across the United States and theworld. Repeated practice at the cognitive-perceptual task of crossing a street may lead to safer pedestrianbehavior. Virtual reality offers a unique opportunity for repeated practice without the risk of actualinjury. This study conducted a pre-post within-subjects trial of training children in pedestrian safetyusing a semi-mobile, semi-immersive virtual pedestrian environment placed at schools and communitycenters. Pedestrian safety skills among a group of 44 seven- and eight-year-old children were assessedin a laboratory, and then children completed six 15-minute training sessions in the virtual pedestrianenvironment at their school or community center following pragmatic trial strategies over the course ofthree weeks. Following training, pedestrian safety skills were re-assessed. Results indicate improvementin delay entering traffic following training. Safe crossings did not demonstrate change. Attention to trafficand time to contact with oncoming vehicles both decreased somewhat, perhaps an indication that trainingwas incomplete and children were in the process of actively learning to be safer pedestrians. The findingssuggest virtual reality environments placed in community centers hold promise for teaching children tobe safer pedestrians, but future research is needed to determine the optimal training dosage. (Author/publisher)
Abstract