Pedestrian safety - Global Road Safety Partnership

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Pedestrian safety: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners BOX 5.1: Pedestrian overpass on a major highway in Kampala, Uganda Over 40% of people killed in road traffic crashes in Uganda in 2010 were pedestrians (2). Though walking is a dominant mode of transport in most African countries, road infrastructure facilities for pedestrians are generally inadequate or underdeveloped in both urban and rural areas (3,4). In an effort to address the safety of pedestrians, an overpass costing approximately US$ 100 000 was constructed at Nakawa Trading Centre, approximately six kilometres from Kampala city centre (5). This busy trading centre with many small retail shops, industries, a sports stadium, offices, low-cost residential estates and schools is on the Kampala–Jinja highway. The overpass was built in August 1998, when there was a heightened sense of the importance of road safety because the Road Safety Act had just been enacted and several crashes at the location provoked public outrage. An evaluation of the overpass conducted in 2002 revealed the following results (5): • Just over one third of pedestrians used the overpass. Users were mostly female (49%) and children (79%). The low usage of the overpass reflected some of the design flaws, as well as the position of the overpass, which raised security concerns among users. Respondents were concerned that the overpass was untidy, poorly lit and that children loitered on it. Most pedestrians found the overpass to be inconvenient and difficult to access. Consequently, many pedestrians could be seen crossing the road through motorized traffic. No changes appeared to have been made to the overpass by July 2012. • While the number of pedestrians killed dropped from eight to two after it was constructed, the number of pedestrians seriously injured increased from 14 before construction to 17 afterwards. The mixed outcomes associated with this isolated intervention indicate the need for a comprehensive approach to pedestrian safety. Other measures such as reducing and enforcing vehicle speeds, providing raised crossings, providing sidewalks and raising awareness about these measures would have complemented the overpass. ©2012 Olive Kobusingye 5: Evaluating pedestrian safety programmes 99
Evaluating pedestrian safety programmes Box 5.2: Sustained implementation and evaluation of pedestrian safety measures in New York City New York City is known for improvement in pedestrian safety in particular, and road safety in general (6). A major factor in the declining pedestrian fatality rate in New York City is continued implementation of safety measures and evaluation of their performance. The annual pedestrian fatality rate declined steadily from 5.8 deaths per 100 000 population in the 1950s to 2.0 per 100 000 population in the decade 2000–2009 (7). The recent pedestrian safety efforts in the city demonstrate the importance of a comprehensive approach to pedestrian safety. In 2008, aiming to sustain or accelerate the decline in pedestrian fatality, the Department of Transportation of New York City set a target of reducing annual road traffic fatalities by 50% from 2007 levels by 2030, that is, from 274 to 137. Data revealed that pedestrian fatalities made up 52% of all road traffic fatalities in New York City in the period 2005–2009. Pedestrian safety was therefore identified as a key area for improvement. To develop an effective pedestrian safety strategy, more than 7000 severe and fatal pedestrian injury crashes in New York City were analyzed, to identify the causes, risk factors and spatial distribution of these crashes. The analysis revealed the following (7): • Pedestrians were ten times more likely to die than motor vehicle occupants in the event of a crash. • Driver inattention was cited in nearly 36% of crashes resulting in pedestrians being killed or seriously injured. • 27% of crashes that killed or seriously injured pedestrians involved driver failure to yield, while turning at an intersection. • Unsafe speed and limited sight distance were cited as risk factors in 21% of fatal and serious pedestrian crashes. • 8% of all fatal pedestrian crashes involved a driver who had been drinking. However this may be an underestimate since data suggest that drivers leave the scene in about 21% of the fatal and serious injury crashes. • 80% of crashes that killed or seriously injured pedestrians involved male drivers. • Most residents of New York City did not know that the standard speed limit for city streets is 30 km/h. • 47% of pedestrian fatalities occurred on major two-way streets in Manhattan, a borough that contains the region’s two largest business districts. • 74% of pedestrian crashes occurred at intersections, with 47% of pedestrian fatalities and severe injuries occurring at signalized intersections and 57% of the crashes taking place while the pedestrian was crossing with the signal. BEFORE: New York City Department of Transportation 100
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Pedestrian safety A ROAD SAFETY MAN
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WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publicat
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Table of contents 2.1.1 Traffic mix
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vi Preface
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Preface Contributors and acknowledg
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x Executive summary
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Pedestrian safety: a road safety ma
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1 Why is addressing pedestrian safe
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2 Pedestrian safety in roadway desi
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• About 80% of bus commuters and
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area, for example, narrowing from a
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Figure 2.1 A comprehensive framewor
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3 Prioritizing pedestrian safety in
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Table 3.1 Pedestrian safety: a road
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A road safety audit is a formal sys
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Pedestrian safety - Global Road Safety Partnership

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