Pedestrian safety - Global Road Safety Partnership

Pedestrian safety: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners
More than one fifth of the people killed on the world’s roads each year are not
travelling in a car, on a motorcycle or even on a bicycle – they are pedestrians.
Pedestrian deaths and injuries are often preventable, and proven interventions exist,
yet in many locations pedestrian safety does not attract the attention it merits.
Successful interventions to protect pedestrians and promote safe walking require
an understanding of the nature of risk factors for pedestrian crashes. This module
provides the reader with background information on the problem of pedestrian
injuries and risk factors worldwide. The information may be used to persuade
political leaders to develop, implement and support pedestrian safety measures.
A pedestrian is any person who is travelling by walking for at least part of
his or her journey. In addition to the ordinary form of walking, a pedestrian
may be using various modifications and aids to walking such as wheelchairs,
motorized scooters, walkers, canes, skateboards, and roller blades. The
person may carry items of varying quantities, held in hands, strapped on the
back, placed on the head, balanced on shoulders, or pushed/pulled along. A
person is also considered a pedestrian when running, jogging, hiking, or when
sitting or lying down in the roadway.
1: Why is addressing pedestrian safety necessary?
The content of this module is organized as follows:
1.1 Guiding principles: Two of the principles that guide work on pedestrian
safety and shape this manual are presented. The first is the concept of ‘safe walking’.
Walking is a basic and common mode of transport with benefits to health and the
environment. Measures must be taken to improve the safety of walkers. The second
guiding principle is the ‘Safe System’ approach, discussed here as a framework for
understanding and addressing pedestrian safety.
1.2 Magnitude of pedestrian road injury problem: This section presents data on
the number of pedestrians killed in road traffic crashes worldwide. It also presents
information on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of people who
are injured or killed as pedestrians, and the costs of pedestrian road traffic crashes.
1.3 What happens in a pedestrian collision? This section briefly describes the
sequence of events and typical injuries arising from pedestrian–car collisions. It provides
a useful background for understanding the risk factors discussed in Section 1.4.
1.4 Risk factors: This section discusses the key risk factors for pedestrian injury,
particularly speed, alcohol, lack of road infrastructure for pedestrians and inadequate
visibility of pedestrians on roads. Other risk factors are also outlined.
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