A parent training program for the road safety education of preschool children†

A main goal of the research project reported in this paper was the development and the evaluation of a road safety training program for preschool children on the basis of behavioral learning theories and empirical research findings. This training program was tested in four pilot studies with 233 children and finally evaluated with 658 children, age 3–6. With this program, parents of children between the age of 2 and 7 learn how to teach their children safe pedestrian behavior. The training program is a media package which consists of a film presenting the learning objectives and the training methods and a brochure giving concrete instructions about the training process. Both the film and the brochure describe the exercises which the parents should practice with their children directly in real traffic situations.