Amend
The Pitch
Amend created safer school zones in areas of high risk using fast-acting, low-cost and evidence-driven infrastructure, behavior and policy changes that deliver quick wins and give policymakers a roadmap to safer cities for all road users.
The Problem
The lack of safe pedestrian routes in Dar es Salaam and other African cities means children in the region are twice as likely to die or be injured in road accidents than children globally. Every year, 1.35 million people die from road crashes. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists account for 80% of deaths in low and middle-income countries.
The Process
- First launched SARSAI at two schools in Dar es Salaam in 2012, with support from the FIA Foundation
- Identified the most at-risk schools using public data and community reporting
- Developed tailored infrastructure modifications designed to reduce risk hot spots for each school area, including new footpaths, zebra crossings, bollards, speed humps and routes that travel along less busy roads
- Taught children at each school crucial safety practices
- Expanded SARSAI to more schools in Dar es Salaam between 2013 and 2014
- Built key relationships with local authorities, who approved the technical plans in each case
- Involved community members—including teachers, parents and municipal engineers—as active participants in SARSAI, from the benchmarking of injury rates to follow-up monitoring and educational courses
- Helped cement the credibility of the approach through a partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2015; with the CDC’s support, Amend carried out a population-based, randomized control study of 18 schools in Dar es Salaam, based on a sample size of more than 13,000 school-aged children
- Began expanding SARSAI to other cities in 2017, following a $1.7 million grant from the FIA Foundation and the Puma Energy Foundation
- Continues regular incident monitoring and retrofitting of high-risk schools while building capacity among public officials to embed children’s safety measures into roads as they are built
The Impact
- Implemented SARSAI in 52 high-risk school areas in nine sub-Saharan countries
- Invested ~$25,000 in road infrastructure improvements per school
- Reduced road traffic injuries at schools that received the intervention by 26% (that translates to 500+ injuries and seven deaths prevented each year across all nine countries)
- Reduced the severity of road traffic injuries that still occur
- Cut traffic speeds in school zones up to 60%
- Directly benefited 38,000+ students
- Enabled school children to save their energy and focus for the classroom by improving road safety and reducing risk of fatal and near-fatal traffic crashes
- Improved road safety for all pedestrians, the majority of road users in Africa
