Safe Kids Walk this Way Final Implementation Report 2013

FINAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT SAFE KIDS WALK THIS WAY PROGRAM 2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR

Prepared by Asia Injury Prevention Foundation/ Safe Kids Vietnam

June 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS I.

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3

II.

General Information ............................................................................................................ 3

III.

Accomplishments ................................................................................................................ 4

1.

Program Activities:………………………………………………………………4

2.

Program results…………………………………………………………………..5

IV.

Conclusion and recommendations ..................................................................................... 18

2

I.

Introduction

Quick Facts

The Problem Vietnam continued to experience rapid growth and motorization in 2012. Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of accidental death for children and adolescents, who comprise 40 percent of the total road traffic death toll per annum. Despite increased motorization, walking remains an important mode of transport, particularly amongst children. Road traffic injuries take an estimated 22,000 lives every year. Of reported fatal road traffic crashes, nearly 15 percent involve pedestrian road users.

Our Solution Under such circumstances, Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation engages the government, private sectors, and local communities in a comprehensive road safety program designed to deal with these barriers. Safe Kids Worldwide and FedEx have been integral partners to AIP Foundation since 2002 and 2009, respectively. As the implementing organization of Safe Kids Vietnam, AIP Foundation dedicates its efforts to addressing pedestrian safety, specifically among Vietnamese children. AIP Foundation imparts to students, teachers, and communities life-saving traffic safety skills, knowledge, and resources, creating a generation of safe and smart road users that will lead Vietnam in the future.

II.

 Sponsor: FedEx Express

Quickand Facts  17 FedEx volunteers 104 university student volunteers  In 2011, 43,786 reported road traffic  Direct beneficiaries: 21,619 crashes nationwide led students from 31 primary to 10,950 reported schools in Dong Nai Province, 32 deaths and 48,356 primary and secondary schools in injuries.

Binh Dinh Province and secondary schools in Ho Chi  Road traffic crashes Minh City cost Vietnam roughly USD 800 million each  Indirect beneficiaries: year.

Community members Ho Chi Minh City  Program budget: $95,100  Program Duration: School year 2012-2013

General Information

This final report is commissioned to summarize and evaluate the activities undertaken under the agreed upon framework of the Safe Kids Walk This Way program – a sponsorship of FedEx APAC through Safe Kids Worldwide for the school year 2012– 2013.

Project Name Safe Kids Walk This Way Goals of the Project

 To promote pedestrian safety among teachers, children, parents, and the local community  To encourage and inspire children to practice safe behavior on the roads  To involve the local community and government agencies to provide a sustainable and safe environment for children  To make permanent infrastructure changes  To support the pedestrian safety-themed second UN Global Road Safety Week (May 6-12, 2013)

3

Parties involved

 The Ministry of Education and Training  The National Traffic Safety Committee  HCMC Department of Education and Training  HCMC Traffic Safety Committee  Dong Nai Department of Education and Training  Dong Nai Department of Transportation  Dong Nai Traffic Safety Committee  Binh Dinh Department of Education and Training  Binh Dinh Traffic Safety Committee  Local District People‟s Committees and ward‟s authorities.  Local Police Department  Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (known as Safe Kids Vietnam)  Safe Kids Worldwide  FedEx Asia Pacific Project site

 Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province  Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province  Ho Chi Minh City Project duration School year 2012 – 2013

III.

Accomplishments

1. Program Activities:

a) Pedestrian and general road safety education support to Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province and Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province:

 A Traffic Safety Park to provide primary school students with a controlled environment in which children can practice the skills and situations they learn in the classroom

 Pedestrian safety informational booklets  Reflective jackets for students to increase their visibility as they walk to and from school and around their neighborhoods, especially at night

     

Helmets for students through Bicycle Helmet Subsidy activity e-Curriculum Click on Safety software and technical support to primary schools in Phu My district Training on pedestrian safety education for primary and secondary school teachers Pedestrian safety training for primary and secondary school students Extracurricular activities for primary and secondary school students Pre- and post-tests to assess change in students‟ knowledge, attitude, and behaviors

b) Environmental modifications around schools in Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province and Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province:

4

 Installation of traffic calming measures in front of the six target schools in Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province

 Model School Zone pilot project at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School to improve pedestrian safety for children by modifying the environment and sharing results of the initiative. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate that the project can be effective and adapted to benefit children in countries of varying resource-levels, despite the diversity of risks and issues surrounding school zones. The project in Vietnam involves: 

School selection based on certain program criteria, including location, school size, and pedestrian safety needs



Organization of a working committee of stakeholders to ensure the integration and compliance of governmental and school authorities



Baseline assessment to identify safety issues and opportunities for improvement



Development of an intervention plan with participation of local stakeholders



Interventions at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai School and the surrounding land in the school zone



Evaluation of the interventions to identify program strengths and lessons learned

c) Pedestrian campaign in Ho Chi Minh City:  Pedestrian Safety Photo Contest to raise pedestrian safety awareness among Ho Chi Minh City secondary school students and community

 "Safe Walking" event on May 11 aligned with UN Global Road Safety Week\ d) Media Activities:  Model School Zone Launch at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School  Six project handover ceremonies at each target school in Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province  “Safe Walking” pedestrian safety campaign event in Ho Chi Minh City 2. Program results

a) Model School Zone, Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province: Model School Zone project was developed by Safe Kids Worldwide in support of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate that the project can be effective and adapted to benefit children in countries of varying resource-levels, despite the diversity of risks and issues surrounding school zones. In Vietnam, Model School Zone was piloted in Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province to improve pedestrian safety for children by modifying the environment and sharing results of the initiative.

 Problem School selection and baseline assessment identified Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School as a target candidate for the Model School Zone. The 615 students attending the school faced dangerous walking conditions on a daily basis travelling to and from school. Over 16 percent of students at the school reported being hit by motor vehicles when walking in the vicinity of the school. The students came from poor families with parents who work in manual labor. A high percentage of students walked to school regularly, however the environmental structure in place did not provide sufficient safety for students to cross the road or walk safely along the sidewalk. One of the major challenges the students faced on their

5

commutes to school was an uncovered drainage channel that ran along the sidewalk near the school, forcing them to walk along the road in heavy traffic.

 Interventions To tackle these concerns, Safe Kids Vietnam conducted a number of interventions, including: 

650 pedestrian safety educational books distributed to all students and teachers at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai School in Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province



Five teaching toolkits distributed to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai School



615 reflective jackets provided to all students



Traffic safety murals painted on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai school walls to help students remember what they learned in the classroom



Pedestrian training for teachers and students



Installation of traffic calming measures:     



One set of warning traffic lights Four school zone signs Four speed limit signs Four speed bumps Three zebra crossings

Infrastructure modifications:  

Coverage of 248 meters of drainage tunnel.

Reconstruction of 384 square meters of pavement

Before and after interventions

6



Information session for 300 parents on Sep 23, 2012 at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School provided tips to parents on how to teach their children to stay safe when walking and when riding bicycles, as well as sitting on the back of a motorbike. Parents gave positive feedback about the content and reported feeling confident in applying the information from the session to teach their children to be safer road users.



Model School Zone was launched at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School on October 18, marking continuing commitment to improve pedestrian safety in Dong Nai Province. Teachers, students, parents, and the media joined FedEx, Dong Nai Traffic Safety Committee, Department of Education and Training, and Traffic Police representatives and four volunteers.

Model School Zone Launch

7



Extracurricular pedestrian safety event on January 29 at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary: 60 volunteers from Dong Nai University led 600 students in group art projects and class competitions, and students showed off what they have learned about how to be smarter pedestrians.

Extracurricular activities at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai School

 Monitoring and evaluation The Model School Zone post-assessment was conducted on December 28, 2012. The results demonstrated an improvement in student behavior before and after the project interventions.

Observations indicated the percentage of students using the crosswalk has increased by 40 percentage points and those using the sidewalk by 75 percentage points since implementation. In addition, reflective jackets were used by 61 percent of students. These results were influenced by the increase in students‟ knowledge and a change in parents‟ perception of safety in the school zone. The number of parents who reported being comfortable letting their child walk to school doubled.

From 2012 to 2013, Trang Bom traffic police reported a district-wide decrease in crash cases of 84 percent and in road deaths of 67 percent. Non-fatal injuries were reduced to zero.

Percentage of crosswalk and sidewalk use in pre and post assessment 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

85.7%

Parents’ comfort to let child walk 100% 90% 80%

2.7% 6.3%

4.3% 12.3%

21.8%

23.2%

60% 50%

Very comfortable Comfortable

18.9%

70% 59.7%

3.8% 12.1%

Neutral Uncomfortable Very uncomfortable

44.3% 36.9%

35.8%

27.8%

25.4%

24.4%

Pre (N=334)

Post (N=339)*

Post (N=422)**

40% 30%

20.2% 9.6%

20% 10% 0%

Crosswalk

PRE

POST

Sidewalk

8

b) Traffic Safety Park Practice, Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province:  31 teachers from as many primary schools in Trang Bom district, Dong Nai province participated in a capacity building training on November 16, 2012 to learn how to facilitate methodological practice at the 1,700m2 Traffic Safety Park. The Park was built in 2010 to provide a realistic and interactive setting for students to practice pedestrian safety.

Capacity building training on Traffic Safety Park facilitation

 Between December 2012 and April 2013, trained teachers took turns bringing their students to the Traffic Safety Park on Saturdays. Continuing at this pace, these practices will educate as many as 3,100 students.

Students were taught to use the park effectively to practice of safe road skills through various games. The purpose of the course is to equip students with road safety skills and encourage them to practice safe road behaviors.

 On November 24, observations indicated a 17 percent reduction in mistakes made by students from their first to their second practice session.

Practices at the Traffic Safety Park

c) Binh Dinh Province:  Problem: Phu My District, which ranks third in traffic accidents in Binh Dinh Province, was selected for expanding WTW program for the 2012-2013 school year. The primary focus of the program is reducing traffic

9

accidents among schools located along National Highway 1A through pedestrian safety education and environmental modifications.

On August 16, the orientation workshop for this new program was organized successfully with over 60 local participants, including provincial and district authorities, school administrators, teachers, parents, media. 

Stakeholders informed about WTW implementation procedure and ways they can become more involved



Focus group discussions with key provincial, district, community, and school authorities secured the relevance of interventions and accountability to stakeholders

Walk This Way Orientation workshop

 Interventions: 

16,000 pedestrian and bicyclist safety booklets distributed to all students and teachers of 30 primary schools and two secondary schools in Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province



e-Learning Click on Safety software and technical support provided to 30 primary schools in Phu My district, Binh Dinh Province



3,472 reflective jackets distributed to all students of the six target schools, including My Hiep 1, My Hiep 2, My Phong, and My Chau 1 primary schools, as well as Phu My and My Hiep secondary schools in Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province



3,472 helmets provided to all students of the six target schools in Phu My District, Binh Dinh province through Bicycle Helmet Subsidy activity



Infrastructure and signage improvements, including warning traffic lights and zebra crossings, installed in front of the six target schools.



At six helmet use trainings at each of the target schools on October 4, nearly 250 teachers learned the three steps to put on a helmet properly, as helmets are only effective when worn with the chinstrap buckled correctly and the helmet positioned appropriately on the head



Effective traffic safety teaching methods workshop on October 5 focused on new educational methods, road safety information, and interactive teaching skills; 30 core teachers from 30 primary schools practiced opening group discussions, raising questions, organizing games, incorporating physical activities, and integrating their own personal experiences into their lesson plans Traffic safety and helmet use trainings

10



On December 12 and 13, FedEx Express and Safe Kids Vietnam launched the Walk This Way program at six primary and secondary schools in Binh Dinh Province Safe Kids Walk This Way Launch in Binh Dinh Province



3,744 primary students and 1,817 secondary school students in Phu My District trained in basic knowledge of traffic safety, including safe pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorcyclist behaviors from February to April 2013



Extracurricular activities enabled students to understand the enormity of the traffic accident situation and poor traffic culture in Vietnam, as well as learn to apply and practice safe road behaviors Student trainings and extracurricular activities

11

 Monitoring and evaluation: The post-assessment in May 2013, including knowledge and behavior assessments and observations, found: 

Motorcycle helmet use rates at six target schools increased from approximately 26 to 90 percent



Bicycle helmet use rates at six target schools increased from approximately 0.4 to 80 percent



Students wearing reflective jackets when travelling on the road increased from 0 to 69 percent

According to school reports, there were 15 students involved in road traffic crashes at the six target schools in the school year 2010-2011 and 19 in school year 2011-2012. In school year 2012-2013, no students were reported to be involved in road crashes.

Behavior observations

d) Ho Chi Minh City: From January 2013 to May 2013, Safe Kids Vietnam organized a photo contest to highlight the challenges that pedestrians face in Ho Chi Minh City, culminating with a walking event on May 11. This pedestrian

12

campaign aimed to:

 Increase awareness of pedestrian safety among students and the community in Ho Chi Minh City  Support the second UN Global Road Safety Week 2013 with the theme: “Pedestrian Safety”  Pedestrian photo contest: 

In partnership with HCMC DOET and HCMC TSC, the pedestrian safety photo contest website was launched to engage secondary school students from all 24 districts in Ho Chi Minh City. Secondary students participated in the contest by logging on to the contest‟s website, reading information about pedestrian safety, completing pedestrian quiz, taking photos of their surroundings, and submitting these photos through the website. Photo contest lasted from March 1 to May 11, 2013.



The photo contest website was linked to Facebook. All photos were posted to Facebook for public voting for the top 100 photos; voting also occurred on the contest website. A panel of judges selected the winning photos from these 100 finalists. Six winners were awarded valuable prizes, including an iPad, cameras, and iPods.



Over two months, pedestrian photo contest website attracted 16,461 page views, 2,343 registered accounts, 542 comments; 311 students completed the pedestrian quiz, and contestants reporting knowing how to walk safely increased from 0.7 to 98 percent.

Pedestrian photo contest website images

 Walking event: More than 1,000 people, including the Chief Secretariat of Vietnam's National Traffic Safety Committee and the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Public Security, Ho Chi Minh City authorities, and 13 FedEx volunteers, joined "Safe Walking" event on May 11, 2013. 

Focused community's attention on risks pedestrians face when walking on the road and raised awareness of the need for improved pedestrian safety, the theme of the United Nations' second Global Road Safety Week (May 6-12)

13



Route began and finished at the Youth Cultural House, passing through Ho Chi Minh City's main streets, including Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Hai Ba Trung, Le Duan, and Pham Ngoc Thach



Photo exhibition opening for 60 photos that received the most Facebook "likes" were displayed at the Youth Cultural House from May 11-16



Award ceremony for winners who received valuable prizes, including iPad, cameras, and iPods The walk

Awarding ceremony

14

Pedestrian Photo Exhibition

 Monitoring and Evaluation 

Over two months, Pedestrian Photo contest website attracted 16,461 page views, 2,343 registered accounts, 542 comments; 311 students completed the pedestrian quiz, and contestants reporting knowing how to walk safely increased from 0.7 to 98 percent



From May 11-16, around 20,000 people visited the photo exhibition displayed at the Youth Culture House

e) The Long Short Walk: The Long Short Walk is a campaign promoting safe walking for all. Everyone should be able to walk without fear of injury, it should be a basic right – like access to clean water. Encouraging walking makes sense for transport policy, for health policy and for environmental policy. It is particularly important for the health and independence of our children. So, in support of the UN Global Road Safety Week 2013, the Zenani Mandela Campaign has launched the „Long Short Walk‟ for safer, healthier and greener mobility.

15

 In Vietnam, the Long Short Walk was organized on May 11. The route began and finished at the Youth Cultural House, passing through Ho Chi Minh City's main streets, including Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Hai Ba Trung, Le Duan, and Pham Ngoc Thach.

 The Long Short Walks were also organized in Hanoi, Ha Tinh Province and in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City throughout April and May.

16

f) Media Coverage:  Three printed news and seven online news covered Model School Zone Launch at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School on October 18

 Five printed news, eight online news, and two TV news covered Walk This Way launches at six primary and secondary schools in Phu My District, Binh Dinh Province on December 12 and 13

 The “Safe Walking” campaign‟s pedestrian photography contest for secondary school students in Ho Chi Minh City and public event on May 11, tied into the UN Road Safety Week (May 6 – 12) and drew attention of media and public to the challenges that pedestrians are facing, with coverage from seven printed news, 16 online news, and six TV news

Quick Facts 

15 Printed news



31 Online news



8 Television news

g) FedEx volunteer activities The FedEx staff matched their generous donation of pedestrian safety education with the invaluable donation of their time – during program implementation. The volunteers demonstrated FedEx‟s strong and continued commitment to promote community consciousness of the risks that children face when walking to and from school every day.

17

IV.

Conclusion and recommendations

a. Conclusion The Safe Kids Walk This Way project activities were created to improve children‟s pedestrian safety knowledge, to design and engineer safer environments around children‟s schools, to increase awareness of road safety, and to ultimately save lives. This project has developed a successful steady partnership in the field of traffic safety, with three main social sectors in Vietnam: state agencies (Ministry of Education and Training, Local Departments of Education and Training, National Traffic Safety Committee, Local Traffic Safety Committees, etc.), private sector (FedEx APAC as the sponsor) and the local community. The fourth year of the Safe Kids Walk This Way project in Vietnam was a great success.

 Dong Nai Province:  Model School Zone environmental interventions addressed challenges the children face during their travel due to a lack of safe sidewalks and crosswalks and an exposed drainage channel that forced them to walk along a road with high traffic volume. These interventions included one set of warning traffic lights, four rumble strips, three zebra crossings, four school zone signs, four speed limit signs, coverage of 248 meters of drainage tunnel, and reconstruction of 384 square meters of sidewalk.

 Model School Zone post-assessment found that the number of parents reporting to feel comfortable allowing their child walk to school doubled. Observations showed the percentage of students using the crosswalk increase by 40 percentage points and those using the sidewalk by 75 percentage points.

 Traffic safety park observations indicated a 17 percent reduction in mistakes made by students from their first to their second practice session.

 From 2012 to 2013, Trang Bom traffic police reported a district-wide decrease in crash cases of 84 percent and in road deaths of 67 percent. Non-fatal injuries were reduced to zero.

 Binh Dinh Province:  On December 12 and 13, FedEx Express and Safe Kids Vietnam launched the Walk This Way program at six primary and secondary schools in Binh Dinh Province, where 3,472 students received reflective jackets and helmets. This activity is part of the expansion of Walk this Way to central Vietnam, particularly to schools located along National Highway 1A, where many students must cross high-volume traffic to reach school. Walk this Way also introduced a number of infrastructure and signage improvements, including warning traffic lights and zebra crossings in front of the six target schools.

16,000 pedestrian and cyclist safety booklets were distributed to 32 primary and secondary schools throughout Binh Dinh Province.

18

 Post-assessment in May 2013, including knowledge and behavior assessments and observations, found: 

Motorcycle helmet use rates at six target schools increased from approximately 26 to 90 percent



Bicycle helmet use rates at six target schools increased from approximately 0.4 to 80 percent



Students wearing reflective jackets when travelling on the road increased from 0 to 69 percent

 According to school reports, there were 15 students involved in road traffic crashes at the six target schools in the school year 2010-2011 and 19 in school year 2011-2012. In school year 2012-2013, no students were reported to be involved in road crashes.

 Ho Chi Minh City:  The Chief Secretariat of Vietnam's National Traffic Safety Committee and the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Security joined Safe Kids Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City authorities for a public event on the morning of May 11 to raise awareness of the need for improved pedestrian safety, the theme of the United Nations' second Global Road Safety Week from May 6-12, 2013.

 The “Safe Walking” campaign which piloted a pedestrian photography contest for secondary school students in Ho Chi Minh City, beginning in February. In addition to winning valuable prizes, the 60 photos that received the most Facebook "likes" were displayed at the Youth Cultural House from May 11-16, 2013. The campaign culminated with the exhibition opening and award ceremony at May 11th event, attended by more than 1,000 people.

 Over two months, pedestrian photo contest website attracted 16,461 page views, 2,343 registered accounts, 542 comments; 311 students completed the pedestrian quiz, and contestants reporting knowing how to walk safely increased from 0.7 to 98 percent.

 From May 11-16, around 20,000 people visited the photo exhibition displayed at the Youth Culture House. b. Challenges   



The road infrastructure does not provide comprehensive protection for pedestrians in Vietnam and would require a significant investment for the necessary environmental interventions.

Motorists‟ awareness is insufficient, and most of them do not obey school zone‟s signals when passing by.

Even though traffic police enhanced their patrol and local public security officers provided assistance to students crossing the street at drop-off and pick-up times, they could not maintain these activities due to a lack of human resources.

The government partners were very supportive, but they do not have budget to maintain the program‟s activities.

c. Lesson learned   

Traffic safety activities to raise public awareness should be increased to keep school pedestrians safer.

Parents, as major players in educating the children on road safety, should be increasingly engaged.

Government partners should be more involved to keep program more effective and sustainable.

d. Recommendations During the implementation of the program, Safe Kids Vietnam effectively partnered with Government agencies, sponsors, and schools to achieve the program‟s objectives. However, the sustainable road safety environment will require continuous engagements with regard to behavioral and situational awareness among children.

Importantly, the percentage of Vietnamese schools with high rates of children walking to school, who lack sufficient pedestrian safety knowledge and education know-how, is still high. With the long-term commitment from FedEx Express through Safe Kids Worldwide, there are more and more lives will be saved, day by day.

Thank you for your generous support to bring pedestrian safety to youth in Vietnam.

19