Pedestrians Safety Analysis at Uncontrolled Midblock Crosswalks

Abstract

AbstractRoad accidents are major but neglected worldwide problem, requiring collaborative efforts for effective prevention. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable victims in fatal road accidents. Pedestrian’s perceived time of crossing and actual time of crossing at uncontrolled midblock crosswalks play an important role in preventing accidents at uncontrolled midblock crosswalks. It provides critical information regarding individual’s crossing time and its variation with actual crossing time at uncontrolled midblock crosswalk. For this purpose, a field survey was carried out on uncontrolled midblock crosswalks at two locations of Ahmedabad. The data was collected with the help of designed questionnaire and stopwatch. The data collected included the pedestrian’s individual characteristics like gender, age, etc., with their perceived time and actual time of crossing at uncontrolled midblock crosswalks. Accidents on uncontrolled midblock crosswalks happen due to difference in perceived and actual traffic flow. Pedestrians do not perceive the traffic conditions correctly. 68% of people overestimated and 32% underestimated the crossing time w.r.t actual crossing time on four-lane midblock crosswalk. 82% of people overestimated and 18% underestimated crossing time w.r.t actual crossing time on six-lane midblock crosswalk. The level of risk increases with increase in crossing width from four-lane midblock crosswalks to six-lane midblock crosswalks as the difference between average perceived time and average actual time of crossing increases. Female pedestrians had better evaluation of traffic conditions at four-lane uncontrolled midblock crosswalks, whereas at six-lane uncontrolled midblock crosswalks, male pedestrians had better evaluation of traffic conditions.KeywordsUncontrolledMidblockCrosswalkAccidentsPedestriansCrossing time