Impact of Road Safety Education on Parents’ Willingness to Pay on Safety Equipment via Family Communication Pattern
- December 17, 2021
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue XI, November 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Nur Afifah Aisyah Mohmood Nor,, Low Suet Fin, Nurfatin Nadia Suhaimi, Nurul Khairani Ismail
Road User Behavioral Change Research Centre, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract: Children are the most vulnerable road users as their physical body is small with limited experiences on the road. Parents are responsible to make sure children are being protected and safe on the road. The objective of this study is to investigate road safety education as a contributing factor in parents’ willingness to pay (WTP) on road safety equipment based on family communication patterns (FCP). WTP was measured in Ringgit Malaysia (RM) while four types of FCP are laissez-faire, protective, pluralistic and consensual. This is a descriptive quantitative intervention study and data was collected via a survey during the pre- and post-study. The sample comprised of 1,969 parents of primary school children from Year 1 to Year 6 who have been using the revised road safety education activity books during the pilot study. The result revealed that pluralistic and protective are two types of FCP with higher increment in WTP among parents on safety equipment to be used on their children during the post-study. Further analysis using paired sample t-test showed a significant difference was only found in pluralistic and protective FCP among Year 1 and pluralistic FCP among Year 5 students. The findings further explained that road safety education influenced the parents’ willingness to pay on safety equipment for their children based on the type of FCP practiced in the family
Keywords: Willingness to pay, Safety equipment, Family communication pattern, Road safety education
I. INTRODUCTION
Road traffic injuries are the second-leading cause of death worldwide among children aged 5–14 years old and young people aged 15–29 years old (WHO, 2004). Various strategies and initiatives have been taken to reduce road traffic fatalities with countries worldwide being committed to a decade of action in reducing these fatalities. The Malaysian government is also committed to reducing road traffic fatalities. The Malaysian Road Safety Plan 2006–2010 was developed to achieve this target with one of its strategies being road safety education for students.
Road Safety Education (RSE) programs are meant to inculcate road safety practices and values in students at an early stage. RSE is a life-long learning process and should begin as early as primary school level, hence, it is of utmost importance to integrate RSE into Malaysia’s education system.
