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<br />DRIVER AND PEDESTRIAN BEHAVIOR AT CROSSWALKS <br /> <br />A companion study was conducted by Knoblauch et al. on pedestrian and motorist behavior and on <br />vehicle speed before and after crosswalk installation at sites in Minnesota, New York, and Virginia (on <br />two-lane and three-lane streets) to help gain a better understanding of the effects of marked crosswalks <br />versus unmarked crosswalks.(13) The study results revealed that very few motorists stopped or yielded to <br />pedestrians either before or after marked crosswalks were installed. After marked crosswalks were <br />installed, there was a small increase in pedestrian scanning behavior before stepping out into the street. <br />Also, there was approximately a 1.6-km/h (1-mi/h) reduction in vehicle speed after the marked crosswalks <br />were installed.(13) These behavioral results tend to contradict the false sense of security claims attributed <br />to marked crosswalks, since observed pedestrian behavior actually improved after marked crosswalks <br />were installed at the study sites. However, measures such as pedestrian awareness and an expectation that <br />motorists will stop for them cannot be collected by field observation alone. Installing marked crosswalks <br />or other measures can affect pedestrian level of service if the measures increase the number of motorists <br />who stop and yield to pedestrians. Furthermore, a greater likelihood of motorist stopping can also setup <br />more multiple threat crashes on multilane roads. Future studies using focus groups of pedestrians and <br />questionnaires completed by pedestrians in the field could shed light on such measures. <br /> <br />49