Pedestrian safety - Global Road Safety Partnership

Appendix 2
right turns at higher speeds, increasing the risk to pedestrians. Reducing the kerb
radius creates a tighter turn and results in motorists making right turns at lower, and
therefore safer speeds. Other important benefits of reduced kerb radii are shorter
crossing distances for pedestrians and improved sight distances between pedestrians
and motorists. Larger kerb radii have been determined to be helpful for older drivers.
They also are needed for safe turning by larger vehicles such as fire trucks, school
buses, moving vans, and delivery trucks.
Mini-circle
Mini-circles are raised circular islands constructed in the centre of residential street
intersections. Intended to reduce vehicle speeds by forcing motorists to manoeuvre
around them, mini-circles may be appropriate at intersections where traffic volumes
do not warrant a signal or stop sign. A series of intersections along a local street
could be treated as part of a neighbourhood traffic improvement programme to
improve pedestrian safety and also beautify the neighbourhood. Tight kerb radii
should accompany mini-circles to discourage motorists from making high-speed
turns. Mini-circles with cuts in ‘splitter’ islands make crossing easier for pedestrians,
especially those in wheelchairs. Larger vehicles such as fire trucks and school buses,
can be accommodated by creating a mountable kerb on the outer portion of the
circle. Mini-circle landscaping should not block sight distance – groundcover, short
shrubs, or trees with tall canopies may be used. Yield controls should be used.
Modern roundabout
A modern roundabout is built with a large, often circular, raised island located in the
centre of the intersection of a street with one or more crossing roadways. Motorists
enter the circle, travel around it, and then turn onto the desired street. All entering
traffic yields to vehicles approaching from within the roundabout. A roundabout is
intended to be applied where vehicular delay can be maintained at or below levels
experienced by stop or signal controlled intersections. Because of this, they can
sometimes be installed on two-lane roadways in lieu of a road widening to four lanes.
Modern roundabouts can be relatively friendly to pedestrians if they have splitter
islands on each approach to the roundabout and are designed to slow traffic prior to
entering the roundabout. The splitter islands can serve as a refuge for pedestrians and
make crossing safer. There is lingering concern, however, about safety for visuallyimpaired
pedestrians at roundabouts. Accessible pedestrian signals and truncated
domes placed at splitter islands can assist visually impaired pedestrians with gap
selection and ‘wayfinding’. In larger roundabouts, an off-road bicycle path may be
used to allow bicyclists to use the pedestrian route.
Pedestrian refuge islands and raised medians
Raised pedestrian refuge islands, or medians, at crossing locations along roadways,
provide another strategy to reduce pedestrian exposure to motor vehicles. Also called
‘centre islands’ or ‘pedestrian islands’, refuge islands and medians that are raised
(i.e. not just painted) provide pedestrians with more secure places of refuge during
street crossing. This simplifies the crossing manoeuvre for pedestrians by creating
112