Abstract

Children, especially those attending school, take high risks in traffic, particularly in relation to their regular interaction with the road environment. It is known that age, sex, and socio-economic circumstances of school children influence the relationship between their knowledge and attitude towards safe road practices, although this has not been examined among Ghanaian school children. The aim of this study was to examine the role of age, sex and socio-economic status (SES) in the relationship between knowledge and attitude of safe road practices among Ghanaian school children. A random sample of 348 school children was drawn from 11 schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana to participate in this quantitative survey. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis found that age, sex and SES do not moderate the relation between knowledge of and attitude towards safe road practices. This result, therefore, suggests that child traffic safety interventions and campaigns based on age, sex and SES may not be enough when determining the relationship between children’s knowledge and attitude towards safe road practices. Interventions targeted at knowledge and attitude of children towards safe road practices, especially in developing countries, should go beyond focusing on their socio-demographic features to providing a wholistic safer environment that prioritises their needs, accommodates their curiosity and errors in traffic and enhance safer walking.