TRAFFIC ENGINEERING FOR PEDESTRIAN SAFETY: SOME NEW DATA AND SOLUTIONS
EACH YEAR THERE ARE ABOUT 400,000 PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS, OF WHICH 10,000 ARE FATAL. THESE FIGURES REPRESENT A 36% INCREASE OVER THOSE FOR 1958. THERE ARE THREE MAIN APPROACHES TO REDUCING PEDESTRIAN CASUALTIES: PREVENTING PREDESTRIAN--VEHICLE CONFLICTS, DEVELOPING SAFER BEHAVIOR, AND MODIFYING IMPACT DYNAMICS. THE SECOND OF THESE, WHICH IS THE THEME OF THE PRESENT STUDY, IS BASED ON RESTRICTING PARTICIPANTS ACTION POSSIBILITIES, ENHANCING THEIR CAPABILITY TO ACT SAFELY, AND ENHANCING THEIR PREDISPOSITION OR TENDENCY TO ACT SAFELY. ITS UNDERLYING CONTENTION IS THAT TRAFFIC ENGINEERING CAN BE MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN IT IS PART OF A COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL PEDESTRIAN SAFETY PROGRAM. DATA WERE COLLECT ON MORE THAN 2100 PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED IN 13 MAJOR U.S. CITIES OVER A 10-MONTH PERIOD. THREE CONCLUSIONS EMERGED FROM THE STUDY. FIRST, THERE ARE DISTINCT TYPES OF PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS THAT REQUIRE SEPARATE ATTENTION. THESE TYPES CAN BE DIFFERENTIATED BY THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS AND BEHAVIOR LEADING TO THE COLLISION, FACTORS THAT PREDISPOSE THE SEQUENCE TO OCCUR, AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEDESTRIANS, DRIVERS, AND VEHICLES INVOLVED. SECOND, DIFFERENT ACCIDENT TYPES OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE CITY. THIRD, PEDESTRIAN SEARCH AND DETECTION FAILURES ARE FREQUENT CAUSAL FACTORS. SPECIAL ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO THE RELATION OF ACCIDENTS TO PARKING ANGLE AND TO TURNING MOVEMENTS. METHODS FOR PREVENTION OF EACH TYPE OF PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT ARE RECOMMENDED.
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Supplemental Notes:
- Sponsored by Committee on Pedestrians. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
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Authors:
- Snyder, Monroe B
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Conference:
- 51st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
- Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
- Date: 1972-1-17 to 1972-1-21
- Publication Date: 1972
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Features: Figures; References;
- Pagination: pp 21-27
- Monograph Title: Pedestrian protection
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Serial:
- Highway Research Record
- Issue Number: 406
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Angle parking; Crash causes; Crash types; Parking; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Pedestrian vehicle interface; Traffic conflicts; Traffic engineering; Turning traffic
- Uncontrolled Terms: Turning movements
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00224019
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Feb 23 1973 12:00AM