Abstract
With a specific focus on high school students as examples of vulnerable road users, this paper examines pedestrian safety and risk factors among, as well as the road safety strategies employed by, high school students in Ile-Ife, one of the largest cities in Osun State, Nigeria. Using a multistage sampling procedure, 115 high school students from three high schools were selected for the study. Descriptive statistics and variants of the Relative Importance Index (RII) were employed in the data analysis. It was found that high school students as pedestrians in Ile-Ife were exposed to several risks owing to a high level of pedestrian facility and infrastructure deficit and the largely unsafe pedestrian environment that characterized the city. Acknowledging the indispensability of walking as an important transport mode, the paper proffers policy recommendations that could engender a safer pedestrian environment in the city.
Keywords: Pedestrian safety, Pedestrian risk factor, Ile-Ife
