Tools to Diagnose and Solve the Problem

A critical first step towards improving non-motorist safety is to identify the problem. There are many different safety problems that pedestrians and bicyclist's experience, and a safety countermeasure that works at one location may not address the problem at another location. If the safety problem can be identified, it may be easier to recommend solutions. The FHWA's goal is to develop methods to make it easier to determine the true nature of a pedestrian or bicyclist safety problem and to focus in on the most appropriate countermeasures.

Tools:

Pedestrian and Bicyclist Crash Analysis Tool is a software application intended to assist state and local pedestrian and bicycle coordinators, planners, and engineers in addressing pedestrian and bicyclist crash problems by allowing them to enter and analyze their crash data.

NEW Pedestrian Road Safety Audit Guidelines and Prompt Lists
The document and prompt lists were developed for local and state governments to use in help solving their pedestrian safety problems. The purpose of a pedestrian road safety audit (PRSA) is to provide a multi-disciplinary team approach to solving pedestrian safety issues within a roadway corridor or intersection environment.

Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System is an expert system that allows the user to select treatments (mainly engineering with some enforcement and education activities) that help mitigate a known crash problem or help achieve a specific performance objective.

Bicycle Countermeasure Selection System is an expert system that allows the user to select treatments (mainly engineering with some enforcement and education activities) that help mitigate a known crash problem or help achieve a specific performance objective.

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Resources:

Accommodating Pedestrians in Work Zones
This brochure provides some helpful guidelines that can be used to accommodate pedestrians in work zones.

NEW Evaluation of Pedestrian Countermeasures in Three Cities: San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami
FHWA awarded grants to the cities of San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami in 2003 to develop plans fo deploying and evaluating various pedestrian safety countermeasures in high crash “zones” and locations. The purpose of the project was to demonstrate how a city could improve pedestrian safety by performing a detailed analysis of its pedestrian crash problem, identifying and evaluating high crash locations, observing factors such as driver and pedestrian behavior, and deploying various lower cost countermeasures tailored to the site. An independent evaluation was also conducted to compare the countermeasure deployment across the three cities.

NEW Toolbox of Countermeasures and Their Potential Effectiveness for Pedestrian Crashes
This “toolbox” documents estimates of the crash reduction that might be expected if a specific countermeasure or group of countermeasures is implemented with respect to pedestrian crashes. The crash reduction estimates are presented as Crash Reduction Factors (CRFs). Traffic engineers and other transportation professionals can use the information contained in this toolbox when trying to figure out which countermeasures would be effective in improving safety at a certain type of locations (such as a signalized intersection).

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Program Contact

Tamara Redmon

202-366-4077

Dick Schaffer

202-366-2176

What's New

The FHWA Safety Office is continually developing new materials to assist states, localities and citizens in improving pedestrian and bicycle safety. The materials listed on this page were completed recently.

Pedestrian Forum - Winter 2010

Examples of State/Local Pedestrian Safety Action Plans

LTAP/TTAP Interchange, Tamara Redmon

Evaluation of the Focused Approach to Pedestrian Safety Program (PDF 225 KB)

“Not in Roadway” Pedestrian and Bicycle Crashes (PDF 132 KB)

How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PDF 5.14 MB)

FHWA Guidance Memo Contains Provisions to Improve Pedestrian Safety

Toolbox of Countermeasures and Their Potential Effectiveness for Pedestrian Crashes

Pedestrian Safety Guide for Transit Agencies

Evaluation of Pedestrian Countermeasures in Three Cities: San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami

Pedestrian Road Safety Audit Guidelines and Prompt Lists