PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Pedestrian injuries
are the second leading cause of death for children under age
four in Los Angeles County and the State of California. Deaths
to pedestrians resulting from motor vehicle crashes were highest
for children four years-old and under in Los Angeles County from
1980 through 1994. In the City of Pasadena, 15 percent of all
fatal injuries reported from 1980 through 1994 were the result
of motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians. These data clearly
indicated a higher risk of pedestrian injuries and fatalities
for preschool children than for the general population.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Pasadena
Safe Community Coalition, created by the County of Los Angeles
Department of Health Services in September 1997, was to reduce
pedestrian injuries and fatalities for preschool children in
the city. Several objectives were conceived to aid in achieving
the coalition's goal:
- Create, maintain, and
institutionalize a Pasadena Safe Community Coalition
- Develop a pedestrian
injury surveillance system to identify high risk areas and populations
- Design an education-based
pedestrian injury prevention program customized for preschool
children
- Devise a public education
plan to increase awareness of pedestrian injury prevention
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The County of Los Angeles
Department of Health Services based the creation of the Pasadena
Safe Community Coalition project on a program piloted in other
areas of Los Angeles County, from which successful evaluations
had resulted. The Department of Health Services took the development
of a Safe Community Coalition as their primary strategy in meeting
the goal of the initiative, supported by these various activities:
- A partnership was formed
with the Pasadena Unified School District for implementation
of a preschool safety prevention and intervention program
- A pedestrian injury
surveillance system was developeda necessary tool in identifying
high risk areas and populations
- Interventions were
tailored to address the developmental and socio-cultural needs
of the population to be served
- Key intervention activities
included pedestrian safety education for preschool-aged children,
their parents and their teachers, who also received program implementation
training. Pedestrian safety rodeos were also presented
- Data collection, analysis,
and dissemination activities were undertaken as an integral part
of Coalition activities
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