Traffic Conflict Technique (TCT) counts and studies traffic conflicts - the near-misses that indicate danger on the roads - as a simple, evidence-based, low-cost approach to evaluate the impact of road safety interventions to prevent crashes, injuries, and deaths. A TCT toolkit for school zones has been developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC Foundation, funded by the FIA Foundation with the support of Child Health Initiative partners Amend, AIP Foundation and ITDP.

Many road safety partners around the world report that they don’t have the data needed to support the need for road safety interventions around schools or to prioritise intervention locations. Using traffic conflict data means there’s no need to wait for data about real-life (and sometimes life-ending) crashes before infrastructure changes are made.

TCT can help decision-makers select and evaluate the most effective strategies for improving road safety and preventing injuries. It is particularly helpful in locations where data are scarce.

The comprehensive guide, which has been incorporated into the Child Health Initiative Toolkit, is designed for anyone interested in improving road safety, with a focus on children and the journey to school. It specifically focuses on traffic conflicts between vulnerable road users - student pedestrians and cyclists - and motorised traffic occurring in and around school zones in low- and middle-income countries. These types of traffic conflicts are referred to as pedestrian-vehicle conflicts. The guide offers different types of TCT based on available resources and level of expertise.

The Toolkit has been tested and piloted in three countries: Vietnam by AIP Foundation; Tanzania by Amend; and ITDP in Mexico. Further implementation and research into the impact of the interventions will be used to refine the Toolkit. It is a helpful complement to iRAP’s Star Ratings for Schools, which assesses the safety of infrastructure around schools. The TCT toolkit assesses infrastructure from a behavioural perspective, accounting for the fact that humans can interact with safe infrastructure in unsafe ways and highlighting where modifications should be made to encourage safer behaviour.

Read the Traffic Conflict Technique Toolkit