Reducing Child Accident Risk
Randomized controlled field experiment quantifying causal effect of visual interventions on driver behavior in residential zones.
The Problem
Context & Challenge
Child pedestrian accidents in residential areas remain a public safety concern. The question: can simple visual cues reduce vehicle speeds and improve driver compliance with speed limits?
The Approach
Architecture & Implementation
Designed a 1×4 factorial randomized field experiment (n=497 vehicles) testing four conditions: control, sign only, sign + toys, and sign + toys + balloons. Measured free-flow speeds using video analysis with robust standard errors (HC1/HC3) for causal inference.
The Results
Impact & Metrics
Sign + toys reduced average speed by 1.9 mph and increased 25 mph compliance by 18 percentage points. Signs alone showed no significant effect—visible child-related objects are necessary.