How to keep children safe in traffic: Find the daredevils early

Crossing the street in front of oncoming vehicles poses serious danger to young children. But is each young pedestrian similarly at risk? The authors aimed to identify children who are particularly prone to making risky and potentially harmful crossing decisions. They used a simple game involving risk to classify 5- to 6-year-olds as risk takers or risk avoiders. Children classified as risk takers made more crossing decisions at a busy 1-way street than risk avoiders, tolerated shorter time intervals between initiation of the crossing decision and arrival of the next vehicle, and were more likely to cause a (hypothetical) accident. Finally, they made decisions more quickly than risk avoiders. The authors discuss the implication of these results for traffic safety programs.