ANALYSIS OF PEDESTRIAN CRASHES

This report analyzes the problem of pedestrian crashes in the United States to support the development and assessment of effective pedestrian crash avoidance systems as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative. In 1998, about 70,000 pedestrian crashes, or 1.1% of all police-reported crashes, occurred in the United States, resulting in 5,294 fatal crashes, or 14.3% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes that year. This report identifies prevalent pre-crash scenarios, describes their physical setting, and provides statistics on driver/pedestrian age and pedestrian injury severity per scenario based on GES and FARS data from 1995 through 1998. The analysis of crash contributing factors for 10 specific scenarios revealed that a high percentage of drivers reported vision obscurity in pre-crash scenarios where the pedestrian darted onto the roadway. Alcohol involvement was particularly high for drivers in scenarios where the pedestrian was walking along the roadway at a non-junction. Conversely, a high percentage of drunken pedestrians were reported in scenarios where a pedestrian was struck either crossing or walking along the roadway. Almost 60% of pedestrian crashes in which the pedestrian was walking along the roadway at a nonjunction occurred at nighttime. Younger pedestrians, especially those aged from 5 to 9 years old, were the most susceptible to vehicle-pedestrian crashes, accounting for nearly 14% of all pedestrians involved. Pedestrian injuries tended to be more severe away from junctions due to higher speeds involved.

• Record URL:
  http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/2003/DOTHS809585.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

  Cambridge, MA  United States  02142

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • daSilva, M P
  • Smith, J D
  • Najm, W G
• Publication Date: 2003-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 96 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Alcohol use; Crash analysis; Crash data; Crash locations; Drunk drivers; Fatalities; Injuries; Injury severity; Nighttime crashes; Pedestrian safety; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Precrash phase; Speed; Statistics; Traffic crashes; Visibility; Walking
• Identifier Terms: Intelligent Vehicle Initiative
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00965923
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-02-02,, HS-809 585
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 19 2003 12:00AM