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| Children stand on a "yellow carpet" waiting for a crossing sign at a crosswalk. Experts believe this will help children avoid car accidents at or near crosswalks in school zones. / Courtesy of the International Child Rights Center |
By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo
Can a "yellow carpet" help to save children?
The International Child Rights Center (InCRC), a civic group, has continued the work of painting walls and pavements leading to crosswalks in school zones in yellow since April last year, believing these yellow areas will help children avoid car accidents.
People in yellow-painted areas are more visible to drivers. They were also proven to create a "nudge effect," motivating children to stay inside the yellow zone while waiting for a crossing sign and consequently reducing the chances of a risky crossing outside the crosswalks. At night, a solar-powered lamp above turns on automatically when people approach, making the areas equally safe day and night. As of the end of March, 28 yellow carpets have been rolled out, with two more planned this month.
"This project began as part of efforts to make a safer town for children," Lee Je-bok, an InCRC team leader, told The Korea Times. "We discussed many possibilities with parents and children and issues such as traffic safety, school violence and hazardous material. However, after thorough discussion and research, we decided traffic safety was a priority."
Sixty-five children were killed in car accidents last year, up 25 percent from a year earlier. Nearly 80 percent of the deadly accidents were reported in or near crosswalks in school zones, according to police data. Children's lack of attention to approaching vehicles can be considered one reason. Another is speedy or careless driving in school zones.
Lee was confident that the "yellow carpet" will help reduce the number significantly.
"The yellow area creates a nudge effect that makes the place feel like a safe haven for children to stay in and a visual aid for drives to be more careful," said Lee. "The solar lamp turns on automatically when people approach the yellow carpet zone, making it safe even at night."
Seoul City recently benchmarked the campaign. The municipal government plans to install more than 100 extra areas this year and up to 300 by 2018. Each costs about 5 million won ($4,300).
The campaign won best design prize in the Design for Asia awards in Hong Kong last year. The campaign has since drawn attention from Australia and many other countries trying to come up with measures to boost children's safety in school zones.
There are yet no statistics proving the campaign's effectiveness in reducing child accidents in school zones. But many studies, including one by 3M Korea's traffic safety industry division and the Korea National University of Transportation, suggest people in yellow areas are up to 51 percent more visible to drivers than in other areas.
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