Development, implementation and evaluation of a countermeasure program for alcohol-involved pedestrian crashes

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to analyze the pedestrian alcohol problem in a community and to develop and apply procedures to counter the problem. The City of Baltimore was selected as the test city. It was estimated that approximately 40% of the pedestrian crashes in the city involved alcohol. An interdepartmental task force developed and implemented a comprehensive countermeasure program. When possible, countermeasures were implemented in one of two zones in the center of the city selected to include 73% of the pedestrian alcohol crashes in 21% of the land area. Since been drinking was not routinely checked on police crash reports in the city, a surrogate measure was developed to estimate the occurrence of a pedestrian alcohol crash. This surrogate group included males between the ages of 30 and 59 who had pedestrian crashes from 7:00 pm to 3:59 am on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights (ending at 3:59 am Monday morning). Substantial reductions for the surrogate group in total crashes, zone crashes and crashes on roads on which special signs were erected lead to the conclusion that the study made positive inroads into reducing the pedestrian alcohol problem in Baltimore. In addition, a statistically significant time series analysis of crashes on treated roads involving age 14+ males leads to the conclusion that this was an effective pedestrian crash countermeasure. Also, the process for forming and using a community task force developed as part of this study formed the basis for the development of a guide for communities considering mounting pedestrian alcohol programs.