According to the American Automobile Association, safety is an important issue where cars can cross the pedestrian way. Drivers and pedestrians share some responsibility for improving safety of road users.[2]
Key risks for pedestrians are well known. Among the well-documented factors are driver behaviour (including speeding and drunk driving); infrastructure missing facilities (including pavements, crossings and islands); and vehicle designs which are not forgiving to pedestrians struck by a vehicle.[7] The Traffic Injury Research Foundation describes pedestrians as vulnerable road users because they are not protected in the same way as occupants of motor vehicles.[8]
Most pedestrian injuries occur while they are crossing a street.[7] In the United States, 20% of pedestrian crash fatalities are linked to jaywalking, defined as improper crossing of a roadway or intersection.[9] Most crashes involving a pedestrian occur at night.[7] Most pedestrian fatalities are killed by a frontal impact. In such a situation, an adult pedestrian is struck by a car front (for instance, the bumper touches either the leg or knee-joint area), accelerating the lower part of the body forward while "the upper body is rotated and accelerated relative to the car," at which point the pelvis and thorax are hit.[7] Then the head hits the windscreen at the velocity of the striking car. Finally, the victim falls to the ground.[7]
Research has shown that urban crimes, or the mere perception of crimes, severely affect the mental and physical health of pedestrians. Inter-pedestrian behaviour, without the involvement of vehicles, is also a key factor to pedestrian safety.[10][need quotation to verify]
Five states – Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas – are the site of 46% of all pedestrian deaths in the United States.[11] The advent of SUVs is considered a leading cause;[12] speculation of other factors includes population growth, driver distraction with mobile phones, poor street lighting, alcohol and drugs and speeding.[11]
Cities have had mixed results in addressing pedestrian safety with Vision Zero plan: Los Angeles fails while NYC has had success. Nonetheless, in the US, some pedestrians have just 40 seconds to cross a street 10 lanes wide.[11]
Pedestrian fatalities are much more common in accident situations in the European Union than in the United States. In the European Union countries, more than 200,000 pedestrians and cyclists are injured annually.[13][obsoletesource] Also, each year, more than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world's roads.[7] At a global level pedestrians constitute 22% of all road deaths,[7] but might be two-thirds in some countries.[7] Pedestrian fatalities, in 2016, were[needs update] 2.6 per million population in the Netherlands, 4.3 in Sweden, 4.5 in Wales, 5.3 in New Zealand, 6.0 in Germany; 7.1 in the whole United Kingdom, 7.5 in Australia, 8.4 in France, 8.4 in Spain, 9.4 in Italy, 11.1 in Israel, 13 in Japan, 13.8 in Greece, 18.5 in the United States, 22.9 in Poland, and 36.3 in Romania.[14]
Road design
Pedestrians ready across the street next to the Forum shopping center in Helsinki, Finland
It is well documented that a minor increase in speed might greatly increase the likelihood of a crash, and exacerbate resulting casualties. For this reason, the recommended maximum speed is 30km/h (20mph) or 40km/h (25mph) in residential and high pedestrian traffic areas, with enforced traffic rules on speed limits and traffic-calming measures.[7]
Traffic lights for pedestrians are also a factor in increasing safety. Animated pedestrian traffic light showing the pan-European sign.
The design of road and streets plays a key role in pedestrian safety. Roads are too often designed for motorized vehicles, without taking into account pedestrian and bicycle needs. The non-existence of sidewalk and signals increases risk for pedestrians. This defect might more easily be observed on arterial roadways, intersections and fast-speed lanes without adequate attention to pedestrian facilities.[7] For instance, an assessment of roads in countries from many continents shows that 84% of roads are without pedestrian footpaths, while maximum limited speed is greater than 40km/h.[7]
Among the factors which reduce road safety for pedestrians are wider lanes, roadway widening, and roadways designed for higher speeds and with increased numbers of traffic lanes.[7]
For this reason, some European cities such as Freiburg (Germany) have lowered the speed limit to 30km/h on 90% of its streets, to reduce risk for its 15 000 people. With such policy, 24% of daily trips are performed by foot, against 28% by bicycles, 20% by public transport and 28% by car. (See Zone 30.)[7]
A similar set of policies to discourage the use of cars and increase safety for pedestrians has been implemented by the Northern European capitals of Oslo and Helsinki. In 2019, this resulted in both cities counting zero pedestrian deaths for the first time.[15]
A quarter of a million pedestrians lost their lives on the world’s roads in 2021.[16]:viii Despite the magnitude of the problem, most attempts at increasing pedestrian safety had historically focused solely on education and traffic regulation. Since the 1970s, crash engineers have begun to use design principles that have proved successful in protecting car occupants to develop vehicle design concepts that reduce the likelihood of injuries to pedestrians in the event of a car-pedestrian crash, or reduce the likelihood of a car-pedestrian crash in the first place.
These involve redesigning the bumper, hood (bonnet), windshield and pillar to be energy absorbing (softer) without compromising the structural integrity of the car. With the advent of ADAS (Automated Advanced Driver Assist Systems) since 2005, new pedestrian detection and crash avoidance and mitigation systems offer improvements through active rather than passive protection systems. For example, omniview technology allows a driver to see what is around the vehicle before moving. More regions are requiring heavy vehicles to have direct vision of pedestrians, rather than relying on mirrors.
Seasonality
In Europe, pedestrian fatalities have a seasonal factor, with 6% of annual fatalities occurring in April but 13% (twice more) in December. The rationale for such a change might be complex.[17]
↑ National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2021, May). Pedestrians: 2019 data (Traffic Safety Facts. Report No. DOT HS 813 079). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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