A STUDY OF PEDESTRIAN RISK IN CROSSING BUSY ROADS IN FOUR TOWNS

COMPARISONS HAVE BEEN MADE OF THE NUMBERS OF PEDESTRIANS CROSSING THE ROAD AND THE NUMBERS OF PEDESTRIAN CASUALITIES ON DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF APPROXIMATELY 8 MILES OF ROAD IN FOUR TOWNS, EACH WITH A POPULATION OF ABOUT 70,000. A NUMBER OF FACTORS WHICH MIGHT AFFECT THE COMPARISON WERE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, INCLUDING THE PRESENCE OR APPROXIMITY OF PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS AND THEIR TYPE, THE AGE AND SEX OF THE PEDESTRIANS, THE LEVEL OF VEHICLE FLOW AND THE EFFECT OF ONE-WAY STREETS. IT WAS FOUND THAT ABOUT 32% OF ALL PEDESTRIANS CROSSING THE ROAD USED CROSSINGS, FEMALES MAKING MORE USE OF THEM THAN MALES. NEAR JUNCTIONS PEDESTRIANS RISK WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER WITHIN 50 YARDS OF CROSSINGS BUT THIS WAS NOT A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT FINDING. BOTH ON AND OFF CROSSINGS RISK WAS GREATER NEAR JUNCTIONS. THE RISK OF INJURY TO PEDESTRIANS CROSSING THE ROAD VARIED WITH AGE: CHILDREN AND ELDERLY PEOPLE RUNNING GREATEST RISK. THE OVERALL RISK TO PEDESTRIANS WAS FOUND TO INCREASE WITH INCREASING VEHICLE FLOW. RESULTS FOUND IN THIS SURVEY WERE COMPARED WITH THOSE OF AN EARLIER SURVEY CARRIED OUT IN THE LONDON AREA. IT WAS FOUND THAT WHILST RESULTS IN THE PRESENT SURVEY WERE IN GENERAL SIMILAR TO THOSE FOUND IN LONDON, PEDESTRIAN USAGE OF CROSSINGS WAS POORER THAN IN LONDON. THE OVERALL RISK OF INJURY TO PEDESTRIANS IN LONDON WAS THREE TIMES THAT IN THE PROVINCIAL TOWNS, A DIFFERENCE WHICH COULD BE DUE ALMOST ENTIRELY TO THE GREATER VEHICLE FLOW IN LONDON. /RRL/A/