Citation

Schultz GG, Galvez de Leon P, Shahandashti SKF, Chamberlin R. Transp. Res. Rec. 2020; 2674(5): 327-339.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0361198120915466

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the 2000s, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) began implementing technological enhancements to reduce the fatality rate of pedestrians involved in crashes. Although these enhancements appeared to be successful at improving safety, there was a need to evaluate their effectiveness. This research evaluates the safety impacts of several pedestrian crossing enhancements using Utah-specific compliance rates of drivers as a surrogate safety measure. This study analyzes enhanced pedestrian crossings to determine the factors that affect the compliance of driver yielding in Utah and provides a statistical analysis to prove the significance of each factor on compliance. The results show that the "High-intensity Activated crossWalK" (HAWK) is more effective at reducing the probability of a non-compliant event compared with an overhead flashing beacon (OFB), and that an OFB is more effective at reducing the probability of a non-compliant event compared with a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) or an overhead rectangular rapid flashing beacon (ORRFB). The results show that adding a pedestrian enhancement to a marked crosswalk at a location with five lanes and speed limit between 35 mph and 45 mph can increase compliance rate by 97% for the HAWK, 77% for the OFB, and 57% for the RRFB and ORRFB.

Language: en