Characterization of pedestrian accidents and an examination of infrastructure measures to improve pedestrian safety in Israel.
The high share of pedestrian fatalities in Israel provided the impetus for this study which looked for infrastructure solutions to improve pedestrian safety. First, a detailed analysis of pedestrian accidents in 2006-2007, with an emphasis on the infrastructure characteristics involved, was performed; it found that 75% of the fatalities and 95% of the injuries occurred in urban areas, the majority of cases occurring on road sections (not at junctions). About 80% of the accidents took place when a pedestrian crossed the road, the majority of them at non-crosswalk locations or at non-signalized crosswalks. International comparisons showed that the characteristics of fatal pedestrian accidents in Israel were similar to the average pedestrian accident in Europe in terms of accident location, time, and the demographic characteristics of the victims. A typology of pedestrian fatalities in Israel was built for the years 2003-2006; it demonstrated a high share of accidents at these locations: in Jewish or mixed-population towns-not at pedestrian crossings on urban street sections, and both at pedestrian crossings and not at pedestrian crossings at urban junctions; in Arab towns; and on dual-carriageway rural roads. Second, based on a literature study, a summary of about 60 pedestrian-safety-related measures was developed. Third, to diagnose the infrastructure characteristics and deficiencies associated with pedestrian accidents, detailed field studies were carried out at 95 urban locations. A major finding revealed that more than 80% of the sites with a high concentration of pedestrian-vehicle accidents in Israel were situated on arterial multi-lane streets belonging to city centers, where on a micro-level there were no indications of major deficiencies in the basic design elements of most sites. Finally, cross-checking of the safety problems identified and the infrastructure solutions available provided lists of measures recommended for application at various types of sites. It was concluded that in order to generate a significant change in the state of pedestrian injury in Israel, a move from spot treatment to a systemic treatment of the problem is required. A systemic inquiry and the transformation of the urban road network should be performed in order to diminish the areas of vehicle-pedestrian conflicts and to significantly reduce vehicle speeds in areas of pedestrian presence and activity.
Gitelman V
,Balasha D
,Carmel R
,Hendel L
,Pesahov F
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A novel framework to evaluate pedestrian safety at non-signalized locations.
This paper proposes a new framework to evaluate pedestrian safety at non-signalized crosswalk locations. In the proposed framework, the yielding maneuver of a driver in response to a pedestrian is split into the reaction and braking time. Hence, the relationship of the distance required for a yielding maneuver and the approaching vehicle speed depends on the reaction time of the driver and deceleration rate that the vehicle can achieve. The proposed framework is represented in the distance-velocity (DV) diagram and referred as the DV model. The interactions between approaching vehicles and pedestrians showing the intention to cross are divided in three categories: i) situations where the vehicle cannot make a complete stop, ii) situations where the vehicle's ability to stop depends on the driver reaction time, and iii) situations where the vehicle can make a complete stop. Based on these classifications, non-yielding maneuvers are classified as "non-infraction non-yielding" maneuvers, "uncertain non-yielding" maneuvers and "non-yielding" violations, respectively. From the pedestrian perspective, crossing decisions are classified as dangerous crossings, risky crossings and safe crossings accordingly. The yielding compliance and yielding rate, as measures of the yielding behavior, are redefined based on these categories. Time to crossing and deceleration rate required for the vehicle to stop are used to measure the probability of collision. Finally, the framework is demonstrated through a case study in evaluating pedestrian safety at three different types of non-signalized crossings: a painted crosswalk, an unprotected crosswalk, and a crosswalk controlled by stop signs. Results from the case study suggest that the proposed framework works well in describing pedestrian-vehicle interactions which helps in evaluating pedestrian safety at non-signalized crosswalk locations.
Fu T
,Miranda-Moreno L
,Saunier N
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Examining racial bias as a potential factor in pedestrian crashes.
In the US people of color are disproportionately affected by pedestrian crashes. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential for racial bias in driver yielding behaviors at midblock crosswalks in low and high income neighborhoods located in the sprawling metropolitan area of Las Vegas, NV.
Participants (1 white, 1 black female) crossed at a midblock crosswalk on a multilane road in a low income and a high income neighborhood. Trained observers recorded (1) number of cars that passed in the nearest lane before yielding while the pedestrian waited near the crosswalk at the curb (2) number of cars that passed through the crosswalk with the pedestrian in the same half of the roadway.
The first car in the nearest lane yielded to the pedestrian while they waited at the curb 51.5% of the time at the high income and 70.7% of the time at the low income crosswalk. Two way ANOVAs found an interaction effect between income and race on yielding behaviors. Simple effects for income revealed that at the high income crosswalk, drivers were less likely to yield to the white pedestrian while she waited at the curb (F(1,122)=11.18;p=0.001), and were less likely to yield to the black pedestrian while she was in the same half of the roadway at the high income crosswalk (F(1,124)=4.40;p=0.04). Simple effects for race showed significantly more cars passed through the crosswalk while the black pedestrian was in the roadway compared to the white pedestrian at the high income crosswalk (F(1,124)=6.62;p=0.01).
Bias in driver yielding behavior may be one influencing factor in higher rates of pedestrian crashes for people of color.
Coughenour C
,Clark S
,Singh A
,Claw E
,Abelar J
,Huebner J
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Microscale walkability indicators for fifty-nine European central urban areas: An open-access tabular dataset and a geospatial web-based platform.
A growing body of empirical findings suggests that more satisfactory, compact, and traversable built environments can positively influence active travel, physical activity, and the walking experience. To this end, planning for better and more walkable places has been identified as a hot topic in urban studies and public health research, since. However, European-level indicators assessing aspects of pedestrian-friendly urban environments are largely lacking. This article introduces spatial and tabular data files of 17 pre-processed and microscale walkability indicators. The dataset presents relevant to the pedestrian environment information for 59 central urban areas from 26 European countries and aims to support policy analysis and assessment related to healthy and low-carbon transportation systems as well as sustainable communities. Methodologically, we applied a virtual (i.e., Google Street View) street audit tool, block-by-block and on both sides of each street and crossing segment separately. To this end, we digitized in polyline features observations and evaluations for a total of 112.577 street- and/or crossing-segments. The data collection process was a demanding and challenging process, which lasted for 21 months and involved 46 trained observers. The data tables in this paper present processed data of each audited item topic as a total share of street segments or crossings length by city. More specifically, the data tables contain indicators that describe the following seventeen themes: percent of segments with predominant commercial or/and entertainment buildings (active uses), percent of segments with access to park/plaza, percent of segments with transit stop(s), percent of segments with available public seats, percent of segments according to their street lighting conditions, percent of segments with well-maintained buildings, percent of segments where graffiti is not present, percent of segments where a bike lane is present, percent of segments where a sidewalk is present, percent of segments with well-maintained sidewalks, percent of segments with sidewalk buffers, percent of segments according to shading levels, percent of segments with wider sidewalks, percent of segments according to the number of road traffic lanes, percent of crossings with a pedestrian walk signal, percent of crossings with curb(s) ramp and percent of crossings with a marked pedestrian crosswalk. Additionally, a dedicated web-GIS platform has been designed and developed to visualize and disseminate collected data in openly available density maps of high spatial resolution (50 m × 50 m). The above data can be utilized to both raise awareness of unsatisfactory pedestrian environments and appoint them as a key health and environmental issue, as well as to assist European policy-makers to apply urban mobility strategies and monitor progress in urban sustainability and public health goals.
Bartzokas-Tsiompras A
,Photis YN
,Tsagkis P
,Panagiotopoulos G
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《Data in Brief》