#02 - Cross Walk Discussion - Laserfiche WebLink

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for improved driver enforcement and education programs that emphasize the importance of yielding or stopping for pedestrians. More pedestrian-friendly roadway designs may also be helpful in reducing such crashes by slowing vehicles, providing pedestrian refuge (e.g., raised medians), and/or better warning to motorists about pedestrian crossings. 17.6 19.2 5.8 10.1 5.8 41.5 0.0 12.2 12.2 9.8 34.2 31.7 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Multiple Threat Vehicle Turn/Merge Dartout Dash Pedestrian — Fail to Yield* Motorist — Fail to Yield*Crash Type Pe r c e n t a g e o f A l l P e d e s t r i a n C r a s h e s Marked Unmarked *Note: The "Fail to Yield" designation was assigned based on the police officer's determination of who was at fault, and is not necessarily a proper or legally correct conclusion for a given crash. Figure 22. Pedestrian crash types at marked and unmarked crosswalks. A substantial proportion of pedestrian crashes involved dartout, dash, and other types of crashes in which the pedestrian stepped or ran in front of an oncoming vehicle at unmarked crosswalks (23 of 41, or 56.1 percent) and a lesser proportion occurred at marked crosswalks (41 of 188, or 21.8 percent). Police officers sometimes unjustifiably assign fault to the pedestrian, which suggests the need for more police training. Specifically, it may be questioned why so many pedestrian crashes were designated by the police officer as “pedestrian fails to yield,” since in most States, motorists are required legally to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians who are crossing in marked or unmarked crosswalks. Of course, some State ordinances do specify that pedestrians also bear some responsibility for avoiding a collision by not stepping out into the street directly into the path of an oncoming motorist who is too close to the crosswalk to stop in time to avoid a collision. It is likely that police officers often rely largely on the statement of the motorist (e.g., “the pedestrian ran out in front of me” or “came out of nowhere”) in determining fault in such crashes, particularly when the driver was not paying proper attention to the road, the pedestrian is unconscious, and there are no other witnesses at the scene. However, it is also true that a major contributing factor is the unsafe behavior of pedestrians. Dartouts, dashes, and failure of the pedestrians to yield were indicated by police officers as contributing causes in 27.9 percent (64 of 229) of the pedestrian crashes at the study sites. These results are indicative of a need for improved pedestrian educational programs, which is in agreement with recommendations in other important studies related to improving the safety of vulnerable road users.(33) Furthermore, speeding drivers often contribute to 42