#02 - Cross Walk Discussion - Laserfiche WebLink

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39 Note that each point on the graph in figure 19 represents dozens of sites, that is, all of the sites corresponding to the given ADT group. For example, the data point for marked crosswalks with ADTs greater than 15,000 corresponds to more than 400 sites. All analyses in this study took into account differences in pedestrian crossing volume, traffic volume, and other important site variables. These results may be somewhat expected. Wide, multilane streets are difficult for many pedestrians to cross, particularly if there is an insufficient number of adequate gaps in traffic due to heavy traffic volume and high vehicle speed. Furthermore, while marked crosswalks in themselves may not increase measurable unsafe pedestrian or motorist behavior (based on the Knoblauch et al. and Knoblauch and Raymond studies(13,14)) one possible explanation is that installing a marked crosswalk may increase the number of at-risk pedestrians (particularly children and older adults) who choose to cross at the uncontrolled location instead of at the nearest traffic signal. The pedestrian crossing counts at the 1,000 marked crosswalks and 1,000 unmarked comparison crossings in this study may partially explain the difference. Overall, 66.1 percent of the observed pedestrians crossed at marked crosswalks, compared to 33.9 percent at unmarked crossings. More than 70 percent of pedestrians under age 12 and above age 64 crossed at marked crosswalks, while about 35 percent of pedestrians in the 19- to 35-year-old range crossed at unmarked crossings, as shown in figure 20. The age group of pedestrians was estimated based on site observation. An even greater percentage of older adults (81.3 percent) and young children (76.0 percent) chose to cross in marked crosswalks on multilane roads compared to two-lane roads. Thus, installing a marked crosswalk at an already undesirable crossing location (e.g., wide, high-volume street) may increase the chance of a pedestrian crash occurring at such a site if a few at-risk pedestrians are encouraged to cross where other adequate crossing facilities are not provided. This explanation might be evidenced by the many calls to traffic engineers from citizens who state, “Please install a marked crosswalk so that we can cross the dangerous street near our house.” Unfortunately, simply installing a marked crosswalk without other more substantial crossing facilities often does not result in the majority of motorists stopping and yielding to pedestrians, contrary to the expectations of many pedestrians. On three-lane roads (i.e., one lane in each direction with a center two-way left-turn lane), the crash risk was slightly higher for marked crosswalks compared to unmarked crosswalks, but this difference was not significant (based on a sample size of 148 sites). CRASH TYPES The greatest difference in pedestrian crash types that occurred at marked and unmarked crosswalks involved multiple-threat crashes. A multiple-threat crash involves a driver stopping in one lane of a multilane road to permit pedestrians to cross, and an oncoming vehicle (in the same direction) strikes the pedestrian who is crossing in front of the stopped vehicle. This crash type involves both the pedestrian and driver failing to see each other in time to avoid the collision (see figure 21). To avoid multiple-threat collisions, drivers should slow down and look around stopped vehicles in the adjacent travel lane, and pedestrians should stop at the outer edge of a stopped vehicle and look into the oncoming lane for approaching vehicles before stepping into the lane.