Analysis of road safety hazards in area of pedestrian crossings on rural roads and road passages through the small towns

Stanislaw GACA, Mariusz KIECCracow University of Technology

Chair of Highway and Traffic Engineering 

25th ICTCT Workshop in Hasselt, Belgium on 8th – 9th November 2012

Overview of presentation:

• Characteristics of pedestrian problemson Polish roads

• Pedestrian safety determinants

• Methods of analyses

• Accident and speed analyses

• Conclusion

Objective of analyses

Quantitative  assessment  of  the  impact  of 

different  types  of  pedestrian  crossings  on 

pedestrian safety based on statistical analyses 

and research on vehicles speed.

Pedestrian safety problems in Poland

• Percentage of traffic accidents involving pedestrians was 

27.3%

• Pedestrians make up ca. 33% (1394 ped.) of all recorded 

traffic accident fatalities

• 9.2% of traffic accidents  involving pedestrians on roads 

in  built‐up  areas  and  rural  roads  still  took  place  at 

pedestrian crossings

• Every  year  ca.  5.5%  of  all  fatalities  die  at  pedestrian 

crossings.

‐ Low intensity of pedestrian traffic, distributed originsand pedestrians’ destinations

‐ Lack of pedestrians and vehicles segregation

‐ Lack of continuity of separate facilities for pedestrians, 

‐ Lack of lighting features for pedestrian facilities

‐ High speed in „pedestrian – vehicle” conflict zones 

Characteristics of facilities and pedestrian traffic in rural areas

• Main  means  of  improving  safety  are  mid‐block pedestrian crossings

• Usage of different type of crossings with: traffic islands,traffic  signals, flashers  and  non‐standard markings  and signs

• Speed enforcement at pedestrian crossings

Despite  of  measures  introduced,  there  are  no  studies evaluating their performance and effectiveness on traffic safety.

Solutions to pedestrian problems

Determinants of research on pedestrian safety

Frequency of accidents with pedestrians depends on many factors:

‐ associated with driver

‐ associated with vehicle

‐ associated with pedestrian

‐ associated with roadway and environment (vehicle speeds, roadway design, midblock crossing issues, roadway lighting, signs and markings)

‐ demographic, social and political 

Methods

• Statistical analysis of accident data

• Modeling analyses evaluating the relative risk pedestrians and their potential causes  (odds ratio)

• Assessment of crossing designs with application of surrogate measures describing the drivers’ behavior

Pedestrian safetyselected statistics of national roads

built‐up area rural area total

share of accidents with pedestrians 30,80% 12,20% 19,80%

severity of accidents with pedestrians [fatalities/100 acc.]

17,8 46,7 28,3

severity of accidents with pedestrians [fatalities/100 acc.] – at pedestrian crossing

10,4 (day) 29,2 (day) 12,2 (day)

25,9 (night) 49,1 (night) 36,9 (night)

pedestrian as offender of accident 15,20% 8,90% 11,50%

drunk pedestrian as offender of accident 25,1% 29,9% 27,3%

pedestrian accident occurrence at pedestrian crossing

37,40% 6,70% 26,30%

Risk of accidents at night time

Impact of crossing type on accident ratein comparison to „zebra” crossing

Based on a random sample of 925 crossings on national roads in built‐up areas

Factors estimated by accident rate ratio

(…) - 95% confidence interval

type of pedestrian crossing

“zebra” (58%)with refuge island (21,2%)

with traffic signal (7,4%)

with flashers(13,4%)

total accidents 1.0 1.033 1.118 1.192accidents with pedestrian

1.00.394

(0.359 ; 0.429)0.142

(0.114 ; 0.170)0.266

(0.232 ; 0.300)accidents fatalities with 

pedestrian1.0

0.299(0.265 ; 0.332)

0.052(0.03 ; 0.07)

0.234(0.201 ; 0.266)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Prędkość na dojeździe do przejścia V1 [km/h]

Pred

kość

zde

rzen

ia V

o [k

m/h

]

L=30 m L=40 m L=50 m L=60 m L=80 m

P<0,1

P>0,99

bVV

tVL r 2

20

21

1

−+⋅=

tr = 1.5 sb = 6 m/s2

Model for assessing the impact of speed on accidents with pedestrians and their 

effects

speed on the approach to crossing [km/h]

speed km/h

P=0

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130

speed [km/h]

0,0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0,7

0,8

0,9

1,0Cum

ulative frequency

 speed before pedestrian crossing speed at the pedestrian crossingP>0,99

P= 0

P<0,10

tr = 1,5 s,   b = 6 m/s2,   L=50 m

Example of risk assessment of fatality occurrence in accidents with pedestrians during collision with vehicle

Example of risk assessment of fatality occurrence in accidents with pedestrians during collision with vehiclebuilt‐up areas on roads passing through village

P>0,99P<0,10

P=0

„zebra” crossing

flashers

refuge traffic island

0102030405060708090

100110120

85%

KW

AN

TYL

PRĘD

KOŚC

I [k

m/h

]

SYMBOL PRZEJŚCIA

Przed przejściem Na przejściu

wyspa azylu bez wyspy azylu

FF

dwie jezdnie - wyspa azylu

Pedestrian crossing on rural areas

Before crossing At crossing

Refuge island „zebra” crossingTwo roadways - median

Crossing symbol

SCSC

Share estimation of speed causing the risk of fatality

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

perc

enta

ge o

f the

gro

up P

i

SYMBOL PRZEJŚCIA

Pi < 0,10 Pi > 0,99

wyspa azylu bez wyspy azylu

FF

dwie jezdnie - wyspa azyluRefuge island „Zebra” crossing

Two roadways - median

Crossing symbol

SC

SC

Conclusion• Type of pedestrian crossings has impact on the behavior of drivers and the risk of accidents involving pedestrians

• Risk of accidents with pedestrians can be estimated based on surrogate measures, including speed

• Speed recorded near crossings causes very high, potential risk of fatal accidents, related to the type of crossing

• It is necessary to introduce additional measures enforcing the reduction of vehicles speed around pedestrian crossings

Thank you for your attention