Pedestrian Injuries and Fatalities on America's Roads - A National Epidemic

Many studies have been conducted for over a decade on effective low cost engineering treatments used to improve the safety of pedestrian road users in marked and unmarked crosswalks on busy arterial streets. Motorist yielding data from various treatments provides statistically significant evidence of the effectiveness of those treatments collected from different regions of the country, varying road widths, as well as a variety of traffic and pedestrian volumes. Many of the early studies look specifically at the use and effectiveness of Centerline Pedestrian Signs to increase conspicuity at unmarked intersections. Other research addresses the use of red signal or beacon, “active when present” devices and other enhanced and/or high visibility treatments, including midblock signals and half signals. There is a disparity in available funding for vehicular road users and their facilities vs. other more vulnerable segments of the population who share those roads. There are many low cost options that engineers can include in their toolboxes to help address these safety concerns.