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ACCIDENT PREVENTION EFFECTS OF ROAD SAFETY DEVICES

ACCIDENT PREVENTION EFFECTS OF FOUR TYPES OF ROAD SAFETY DEVICES WERE EXAMINED THROUGH BEFORE AND AFTER STUDIES BY THE COMMITTEE IN JAPAN SOCIETY OF TRAFFIC ENGINEERS ON THE REQUEST OF AND SPONSORED BY TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT. NINETY-NINE SAMPLES OF ROAD SAFETY DEVICES INSTALLED WITHIN A CERTAIN PERIOD IN TOKYO AREA WERE SELECTED FOR THE STUDY, OF WHICH THIRTY-ONE ARE CROSSWALK BRIDGES, THIRTY ARE PEDESTRIAN PUSH-BUTTON SIGNALS, TWENTY ARE OVER-HEAD CROSSWALK SIGNS ILLUMINATED BY LIGHTS WITHIN THEM AND THE OTHER EIGHTEEN ARE PEDESTRIAN GUARD FENCES. ACCIDENTS OCCURRING DURING THE SIX MONTHS PERIOD BEFORE AND AFTER INSTALLATION OF EACH OF THE DEVICES WERE TESTED. STREET SECTIONS 200 METERS LONG, 100 METERS ON EACH SIDE OF THE SPOT-TYPE DEVICES OF CROSSWALK BRIDGES, PUSH-BUTTON SIGNALS AND ILLUMINATED CROSSWALK SIGNS WERE TAKEN UP IN ORDER TO TEST THE AFFECT ON ACCIDENTS. SINCE THE DEVICES EXAMINED IN THE STUDY ARE ALL PRIMARILY AIMED TO PROTECT PEDESTRIANS CROSSING ROADWAYS, ACCIDENTS WERE CLASSIFIED INTO TWO CATEGORIES OF RELATED AND NONRELATED ACCIDENTS. RELATED ACCIDENTS ARE THOSE WHICH ARE RELATED EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY WITH PEDESTRIANS CROSSING ROADWAYS, & NON-RELATED ACCIDENTS ARE THOSE WHICH ARE NOT RELATED WITH SUCH PEDESTRIANS AT ALL. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY CAN BE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS: (1) THE MOST EFFECTIVE OF THE FOUR WAS PEDESTRIAN PUSH-BUTTON SIGNALS WHICH REDUCED, IN AVERAGE 45 PERCENT OF RELATED ACCIDENTS AND 29 PERCENT OF NON- RELATED ACCIDENTS, AND 38 PERCENT ALTOGETHER, (2) ILLUMINATED OVER-HEAD CROSSWALK SIGNS WERE FOUND TO BE LEAST EFFECTIVE. RELATED ACCIDENTS AND NON-RELATED ACCIDENTS INCREASED BY 39 PERCENT AND 26 PERCENT, RESPECTIVELY. DAYTIME AS WELL AS NIGHTTIME ACCIDENTS INCREASED 30 AND 33 PERCENT, RESPECTIVELY, IT MAY BE ASSUMED THAT THE SIGNS TEND TO MAKE PEDESTRIANS OFF THEIR GUARD WHILE DRIVERS DO NOT PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO THEM. (3) CROSSWALK BRIDGES WERE OF COURSE MOST EFFECTIVE IN PROTECTING CROSSING PEDESTRIANS. RELATED ACCIDENTS WERE REDUCED BY 85 PERCENT BUT NON- RELATED ACCIDENTS INCREASED BY 23 PERCENT RESULTING IN 30 PERCENT REDUCTION AS A WHOLE, (4) ONLY COORDINATED PUSH- BUTTON SIGNALS COULD PREVENT NON-RELATED ACCIDENTS TO A CONSIDERABLE DEGREE. THEY REDUCED NON-RELATED ACCIDENTS BY 42 PERCENT WHILE THE INDEPENDENTLY OPERATED ONES DID NOT REDUCE THEM AT ALL, (5) REAR-END COLLISIONS DID NOT INCREASE AFTER INSTALLATION OF THE SIGNALS BUT EVEN DECREASED BY 12 PERCENT, (6) PEDESTRIAN GUARD FENCES REDUCED ACCIDENTS RELATED WITH PEDESTRIANS CROSSING ON THE CROSSWALK AS WELL AS THOSE RELATED WITH PEDESTRIANS CROSSING OUT OF CROSSWALK EQUALLY BY ABOUT 20 PERCENT, AND (7) THE EFFECTIVE RANGES OF CROSSWALK BRIDGES AND PUSH-BUTTON SIGNALS WERE FOUND TO BE 200 AND 100 METERS IN LENGTH, OR 100 AND 50 METERS ON EACH SIDE, RESPECTIVELY. /AUTHOR/

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • pp 1-10, 9 FIG, 12 TAB
  • Publication Date: 1969

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  • Accession Number: 00223268
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Sep 21 1970 12:00AM