Pedestrian Safety - Report to Congress

August 2008

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1. Background

In 2005, Congress passed in law a new authorization of surface transportation programs, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Public Law 109-59. Section 2003(e) of this legislation reads as follows:

SEC. 2003. HIGHWAY SAFETY RESEARCH AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS

(e) PEDESTRIAN SAFETY.-

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary shall-

(A) produce a comprehensive report on pedestrian safety that builds on the current level of knowledge of pedestrian safety countermeasures by identifying the most effective advanced technology and intelligent transportation systems, such as automated pedestrian detection and warning systems (infrastructure-based and vehicle-based), road design, and vehicle structural design that could potentially mitigate the crash forces on pedestrians in the event of a crash; and (B) include in the report recommendations on how new technological developments could be incorporated into educational and enforcement efforts and how they could be integrated into national design guidelines developed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

(2) DUE DATE.-The Secretary shall complete the report under this subsection not less than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act and submit a copy of the report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.¹

This report is designed to satisfy the stated legislative requirement.

The contents of this document are largely derived from a more extensive Federal Highway Adminstration (FHWA) technical report whose purpose was to identify the most promising advanced technologies being developed to improve pedestrian safety. In developing that technical report, information was obtained from three sources: 1) a literature search to identify and secure information on advanced technologies that may improve pedestrian safety, 2) structured interviews with FHWA personnel who have pedestrian safety responsibilities, and 3) the FHWA's Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) databases. Information from the databases served to define crash characteristics and estimates associated with the potential technologies. A meeting was held with select FHWA personnel to gain their input on the initial draft plan. After updating the initial draft plan to include the input, the plan was shared with a select group of stakeholders outside of FHWA to gain their input, and the final draft plan incorporates the input received from those stakeholders. This document includes that input.

Defining the Problem

As a starting point, a basic understanding of the characteristics of the problem is important. Data from the FARS database show that of the 42,642 total highway deaths that occurred on U.S. highways in 2006, 4,784 were pedestrian deaths.

To provide a frame of reference for the issue of pedestrian safety in its entirety, some key statistics from the 2006 FARS database associated with these 4,784 pedestrian deaths are as follows² :

• 1,145 pedestrian deaths occurred at intersections, were intersection-related, or were intersection/intersection-related and occurred within interchanges. This number is broken down as follows:
  • 542 pedestrians died at signalized intersections.³
• Of these, 164 died while attempting to cross four or more lanes of traffic.
• Of these, 395 died on urban arterials and 61 died on urban local roads.
  • 135 pedestrians died at stop-controlled intersections (i.e., intersections with one or more STOP signs).⁴
  • 468 pedestrians died at intersections with neither signs nor signals, with traffic control devices that did not influence the crash, with unknown traffic control devices, or in circumstances where the relationship between the crash and the intersection was not known.
• 3,388 pedestrians died at mid-block locations (i.e., between intersections).
  • 1,422 pedestrians died trying to cross 2 to 3 lanes of traffic.
  • 1,966 pedestrians died trying to cross 4 or more lanes of traffic.
• 275 pedestrians died at other locations such as driveways and entrance/exit ramps of interchanges.

While the actual speeds in each individual crash are not known from the crash data, the speed limit may be considered an indicator of the prevailing speeds on the highway. As speeds increase, the severity of pedestrian crashes generally increases: 2,770 of the 4,784 pedestrian deaths occurred at locations where the speed limit was equal to or greater than 40 mph. However, special pedestrian crash studies conducted by NHTSA and other countries in support of a United Nations global technical regulation (i.e., an international agreement on automobile safety standards) show that about 50 percent of all child and about 40 percent of all adult head and leg injuries were sustained at crash velocities at or below 40k/hr (25 mph).⁵

Time of day also plays a role in pedestrian fatality levels. The distribution of pedestrian deaths by known light conditions⁶ is as follows:

• 1,224 pedestrian deaths during daylight hours.
• 3,290 pedestrian deaths during the night, with 1,623 on highway sections which were lighted.
• 210 pedestrian deaths during dusk or dawn, as described by police reports.

From the above information some of the major concerns are as follows:

• Intersections, particularly those that are signalized and involve multilane crossings.
• Mid-block crossings, which account for over 70 percent of the fatalities.
• Multilane crossings, both mid-block and at intersections.
• High-speed approaches to pedestrian crossings.
• Night pedestrian fatalities.

Select demographic information from the FARS data system and NHTSA publications are as follows:

• More than two-thirds of pedestrian deaths were males.
• Approximately half of pedestrian fatalities occurred on the weekend.
• Approximately 40 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
• Nearly 20 percent of pedestrian fatalities were the result of hit and run crashes.
• Nearly 75 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred in urban areas.
• The number of traffic fatalities and the population-based fatality rate for 2006 were as follows:

Age Range	Number of Fatalities*	Population (thousands)	Fatality Rate**
0-15	369	60,754	0.60
16-34	1,179	82,851	1.42
35-54	1,703	86,945	1.96
55-74	941	50,504	1.86
75+	530	18,344	2.89
* There were 62 pedestrian fatalities in which the age of the victim was unknown or not reported. **Deaths per 100,000 people. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "2006 Population Estimates," DP.1 General Population Characteristics, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis and Reporting System, "Persons Killed, by Age - State: USA, Year: 2006."

In sum, over the past 10 years, approximately 50,000 pedestrians have died and over a half million have been injured, illustrating the significance of the pedestrian crash problem over time. This is shown in the chart on the next page.

Pedestrian Fatalities by Year

The following section identifies some major concerns associated with pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries that may be influencing these numbers.

Primary Concerns

Pedestrian crashes involve a number of factors or conditions that increase the potential for a crash. Some of the primary concerns assembled from the literature and crash data are as follows:

Drivers

• Drivers in situations of increased driving tasks, particularly on multilane highways in urban areas, where the ability to recognize and react to a pedestrian can be compromised. This risk can be heightened if the driver's cognitive abilities are reduced due to age, alcohol or drug impairment, sickness, fatigue, inattentiveness, drowsiness, and/or distractions.
• Drivers who become increased risks to themselves and other people on the highway due to aggressive driving and speeding.
• Drivers who cannot readily see pedestrians at night in sufficient time to reduce potential collisions due to combinations of poor visibility, atmospheric conditions, and headlight limitations. Combinations of these factors can result in drivers overdriving their headlights in terms of being capable of seeing and stopping before striking poorly visible pedestrians at speeds of 35 mph or less.

Pedestrians

• Pedestrians who disobey traffic control devices such as "walk/don't walk" signals, do not use established cross walks, or are not vigilant as they cross the roadway.
• Pedestrians who are in a reduced cognitive state due to alcohol or other drug impairment.
• Pedestrians who, as a matter of need, must cross a major, high-speed roadway.
• Pedestrians who perceive that oncoming drivers will see them at night because they see the headlights of oncoming vehicles.
• Pedestrians who are less mobile and more prone to sustain life-threatening injuries due to age, disabilities, or other physical conditions.

Infrastructure

• Sections of roadway that have increased potential for pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries due to combinations of pedestrian volumes, high approach speeds and traffic volumes, and the number of lanes that pedestrians must cross.
• High volume signalized intersections where pedestrians must compete with vehicles even during the pedestrian phase to safely cross the highway.
• Intersections that provide inadequate pedestrian separation from vehicles by means of refuge islands at the halfway point in multi lane crossings.
• The pedestrian's perception that the wait will be too long or that the signal call buttons are ineffective, leading to attempted pedestrian crossings against oncoming full-speed traffic.

Environment and Unforeseen Events

• Sections of roadway that may have frequent, but unpredictable surges of pedestrian activity that are a surprise to oncoming motorists, particularly if they occur at night.
• Inclement weather or decreased visibility due to time of day or other environmental factors can affect drivers' ability to see and stop for pedestrians.

Vehicles

• Vehicle front-end designs that can intensify the extent of the injury and increase the potential for a pedestrian fatality.
• Pedestrians and children who walk behind large vehicles such as SUVs may be injured by vehicles that are backing up.

Interactions and Data Issues

• Combinations that involve two or more of the above factors may substantially increase the potential for a severe crash. As an example, a combination of a drowsy driver entering a signalized intersection with a green indication at night with a pedestrian crossing against the signal increases the probability that a pedestrian crash will occur.
• Pedestrian crash data to base countermeasure evaluations on, including exposure levels, is limited at best.

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¹ Public Law 109-59: Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users, August 10, 2005.

² Data in this section were derived from the "Fatality Analysis Reporting System Encyclopedia," maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and contains data from 2006, the most recent year available to the public at the writing of this report.

³ There are probably additional pedestrian fatalities that occurred at signalized and stop controlled intersections, but determining these numbers is not possible due to insufficient data.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ PS-131, "Analysis of Pedestrian Accident Situation and Portion Addressed by this GTR - 8th GRSP Ad Hoc Meeting, Brussels, Belgium, July 11 - 14, 2005." http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/wp29wgs/wp29grsp/pedestrian_8.html

⁶ There were 4,724 pedestrian deaths in which the light conditions were recorded, but 70 deaths occurred in light conditions that were unknown or not reported.

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