#02 - Cross Walk Discussion - Laserfiche WebLink

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Figure 21. Illustration of multiple-threat pedestrian crash. A total of 17.6 percent (33 out of 188) of the pedestrian crashes in marked crosswalks were classified as multiple threat. None of the 41 pedestrian crashes in unmarked crosswalks was a multiple-threat crash. This finding may be the result of one or more of the following factors: • Drivers may be more likely to stop and yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks compared to unmarked crossings, since at least one motorist must stop for a pedestrian to set up a multiple-threat pedestrian collision. Also, pedestrians may be more likely to step out in front of oncoming traffic in a marked crosswalk than at an unmarked location in some instances. • A second explanation is related to the fact that most of the total pedestrians who are crossing multilane roads are crossing in a marked crosswalk (66.1 percent), as shown earlier in figure 14. Furthermore, of the pedestrian age groups most at risk (the young and the old), an even greater proportion of these pedestrians are choosing to cross multilane roads in marked crosswalks (76 percent and 81.3 percent, respectively). • Another possible explanation could be that some pedestrians crossing in a marked crosswalk may be less likely to search properly for vehicles (compared to an unmarked crossing) when stepping out past a stopped vehicle and into an adjacent lane (i.e., pedestrians not realizing that they need to search for other oncoming vehicles after one motorist stops for them). Further research on pedestrian and motorist behavior could help to gain a better understanding of the causes and potential effects of countermeasures (e.g., advance stop lines) related to these crashes. There is also a need to examine the current laws and level of police enforcement (and a possible need for changes in the laws) on motorist responsibility to yield to pedestrians and how these laws differ between States. A distribution of pedestrian crash types, which includes all of the 229 pedestrian collisions at the 2,000 study sites, is shown in figure 22. Motorists failing to yield (on through movements) represented a large percentage of pedestrian crashes in marked crosswalks (41.5 percent) and unmarked crosswalks (31.7 percent). Likewise, vehicle turn and merge crashes, also generally the fault of the driver, accounted for 19.2 percent (marked crosswalks) and 12.2 percent (unmarked crosswalks) of such crashes (see figure 22). These results indicate a strong need 41