Assessment of time allocated to pedestrian crossing: a study in pre-schoolers

Abstract

It is assumed that a crossing speed of 1.2 m/s ensures safe pedestrian crossing. However, this walking pace might not be suitable for preschoolers. We sought to identify whether the time allocated to pedestrian crossing in the crosswalks with pedestrian crossing lights in an urban area, was enough to allow safe passage of the pre-schoolers. For this purpose, we assessed the mean walking speed of 48 pre-schoolers, and their reaction time. The time elapsed from the onset of the green man phase to the onset of the red man phase of 50 crosswalks located in three Spanish cities was registered. The results indicated a mean walking speed of 0.88 ± 0.2 m/s that was not considered sufficient to ensure safe crossing in 38% of the crosswalks analysed. According to the obtained data, a crossing speed of 1.2 m/s was not considered to be appropriate to ensure safe crossing among pre-schoolers.