Abstract
The main objective of the study was to verify the effectiveness of active pedestrian crossings equipped with flashing lights activated automatically by detected pedestrians. A pilot study was conducted in two sites, where speed profiles of vehicles over the distance of 30 m before the crossing were analyzed. The study produced promising results in terms of reducing vehicle speeds so the next study investigated four other unsignalized pedestrian crossings. They were video-recorded for 48 h each, before, after and a year after installation. The ANOVA test was used to check the statistical significance of changes in selected indicators. Even after a year from the installation, the effect of the active signage remained significant. The average percentage of drivers yielding to pedestrians was 77.4% higher and the average waiting time 25.2% lower than before the installation. The average speeds of vehicles were 3.53 km/h lower on collector and 2.60 km/h lower on arterial streets. A decline in the probability of a pedestrian being killed or severely injured (KSI) ranged from 6.3 pp (9.4%) on the arterial streets immediately after the installation up to 12.9 pp (31.7%) on the collector streets one year after.
Highlights
In order to minimize the number of road accident victims, many developed countries have introduced various traffic safety measures aimed at making both the infrastructure and vehicles safer, and have implemented numerous other means that have led to the reduction in road accidents’ severity
The results show that the active signage systems have a positive safety effect and
The analysis showed that a year after the installation the percentage of drivers yielding to pedestrians was still higher than in the period before the installation in all tested sites
Summary
In order to minimize the number of road accident victims, many developed countries have introduced various traffic safety measures aimed at making both the infrastructure and vehicles safer, and have implemented numerous other means that have led to the reduction in road accidents’ severity. Pedestrians—the most vulnerable road users—and their interaction with vehicles are of key importance in this respect [2,3]. Pedestrians, not protected by a vehicle body, safety belts, airbags or helmets, are obviously the most vulnerable road users (VRUs), subject to a high risk of severe injury or death [4]. It clearly shows that the vehicle speed when approaching a pedestrian crossing is critical to pedestrian safety
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