Investigating Pedestrian Risk Factors Leading to Pedestrian Fatalities in Kolkata City Roads

Abstract

In India, pedestrian fatalities are considerably high in urban areas compared to national average. While pedestrians’ behaviour and road use influence risk of pedestrian crashes, several built environment and road infrastructure planning and design features, traffic volumes, speed, visibility and pedestrian volume also significantly affect likelihood and consequence of pedestrian crashes. However, effects of these factors at locations experiencing high number of pedestrian crashes in general and fatal pedestrian crashes in particular have not been extensively studied across Indian cities. This study makes an attempt to fill the gap by analysing fatal pedestrian crashes obtained from Kolkata police and identifies locations on road network posing highest risk to pedestrians. Subsequently a model for un-signalized intersections was developed to identify factors influencing likelihood of fatal pedestrian crashes. Results indicate that high pedestrian volume and wider minor roads are associated with higher pedestrian fatalities, whereas higher traffic volume, higher post-encroachment-time and wider cross walks showed diminishing effects on fatal pedestrian crashes.