Pedestrian Safety Assessment with Video Analysis

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Pedestrian fatality rate in Poland of 30 deaths per year per million population was the second highest among the EU countries in 2013. In the years 2007-2013 some 13% of pedestrian fatalities and 26% of injuries occurred at unsignalized pedestrian crossings where pedestrians should theoretically be safe. The paper presents results of research project MOBIS which was aimed to develop surrogate safety measures based on detection of dangerous situations or near-accidents. Within the project, pedestrian and vehicle traffic was recorded at four pedestrian crossings in Warsaw and Wrocław, for a period of approximately 2 months per crossing. Motion trajectories of vehicles and pedestrians were determined and certain parameters describing the pedestrian-vehicle encounters calculated. The average number of such encounters was over 1000 per day in both Warsaw and Wrocław. Dedicated video and data analysis algorithms were used to extract interactions that met certain criteria. To this end the following parameters were used: velocity profiles of pedestrians and vehicles, minimum distance between the participants, deceleration during braking, etc. These variables were used to develop surrogate safety indicators for pedestrian-vehicle encounters. A classification of encounters based on the characteristics of pedestrian-vehicle interaction is also proposed. Within the project certain solutions for increasing pedestrian safety at road crossings were installed and evaluated. These included speed cushions and flashing lights warning the drivers about pedestrian presence that were either mounted on traffic poles or embedded in the road surface. The evaluation of these solutions will be based on surrogate safety measures developed in the MOBIS project.