Ontario's Pedestrian Crash Causation Study: A Focus on the Impact of Large-Scale Trends on Road Safety

Pedestrian-involved collisions are a key contributor to roadway fatalities in Ontario, and pedestrian deaths have been growing as a proportion of total road fatalities. This study aimed first to determine trends in the pedestrian fatality rate in Ontario over time, and second to assess the impact of select large-scale trends on pedestrian fatalities. Large-scale trends were identified through a review of literature and hypotheses were tested using Ontario collision data from 2002-2016. The following four key areas were assessed for their impact: 1) The ageing demographic; 2) the impact of increasing consumer preference for light trucks; 3) the potential for an increase in alcohol-consuming pedestrians associated with a decrease in alcohol-consuming drivers, and; 4) increasing inattention, in part by electronic device use, by pedestrians and drivers. A quadratic model with a minimum at 2010 best described changes in Ontario’s pedestrian fatality rate, suggesting a transition from a decreasing to increasing trend at that time. Results of the four key areas were: 1) The proportion of killed pedestrians aged 75 and older has been increasing over time, a trend that can be fully explained by their increased representation in Ontario’s population. This trend is expected to continue. 2) Similarly, the increase in the proportion of pedestrians killed by a light truck can be explained by their increased representation in Ontario’s registered vehicle population. 3) The odds of a pedestrian being alcohol positive have been decreasing over time. 4) The odds are higher that a driver who kills a pedestrian is inattentive.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198121999625
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ACH10 Standing Committee on Pedestrians.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Plonka, Sarah C
  • Volo, Sara
  • Byrne, Patrick A
  • Sinclair, Ian
  • Prabha, Thadsha
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 100th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2021-1-5 to 2021-1-29
• Date: 2021

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 16p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age groups; Alcohol use; Attention lapses; Crash causes; Fatalities; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Vehicle size
• Geographic Terms: Ontario
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01764191
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRBAM-21-01497
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 4 2021 11:00AM