Children's color-based perception of warning intensity in traffic safety signs

Children's perceptions of warning intensity in traffic safety signs have received limited empirical attention, despite their importance for child-oriented safety design. Combining structured color-selection tasks with qualitative interviews, this study examines how children interpret warning intensity conveyed by color and whether these interpretations vary with sign shape or situational context. Thirty children aged 11-12 participated in a gamified task in which they assigned colors to five warning levels across multiple frame-icon combinations. Their color choices were analyzed in the CIELCH color space and interpreted together with interview responses. Differences in L* and C* across sign shapes and traffic scenarios were examined using Friedman tests, followed by paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Differences in hab were examined using repeated-measures circular MANOVA, followed by paired two-condition circular MANOVA tests. The quantitative results were interpreted together with the findings from the qualitative interviews. The results show that children consistently associated red with the strongest warnings and yellow with strong warnings, largely regardless of sign shape or traffic context. Compared with adult-based standards, children selected colors with greater lightness at the highest warning level, while their lightness and chroma distributions at the two highest warning levels showed deviations and heterogeneity. The interviews further suggest that judgments of warning intensity are driven primarily by color salience, whereas shape and imagery play more limited roles. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating children's perceptual characteristics into the design of traffic-safety signs and warning displays, which have traditionally been based on adult perceptions.