Pedestrian safety - Global Road Safety Partnership

Why is addressing pedestrian safety necessary?
Controlling impaired driving and walking is an important road safety strategy. Details
on implementation of this strategy through setting and enforcing traffic laws, raising
awareness and implementing infrastructural measures are provided in Module 4.
1.4.3 Lack of pedestrian facilities in roadway design and land-use
planning
Pedestrian risk is increased when roadway design and land-use planning fail to plan
for and provide facilities such as sidewalks, or adequate consideration of pedestrian
access at intersections (4,62–64). Infrastructure facilities and traffic control
mechanisms that separate pedestrians from motor vehicles and enable pedestrians
to cross roads safely are important mechanisms to ensure pedestrian safety,
complementing vehicle speed and road system management. These factors, along
with the policy and planning reforms that support pedestrian safety, are discussed in
detail in Module 2 and examples of their implementation are given in Module 4.
1.4.4 Inadequate visibility of pedestrians
The issue of pedestrians not being properly visible is frequently cited in literature as a
risk for pedestrian injury. Inadequate visibility of pedestrians arises from (7):
• inadequate, or lack of, roadway lighting;
• vehicles and bicycles not equipped with lights;
• pedestrians not wearing reflective accessories or brightly coloured clothes,
especially at night and at dawn or dusk; and
• pedestrians sharing road space with fast-moving vehicles.
Measures for improving pedestrian visibility are discussed in Module 4.
1.4.5 Other risk factors
Several other factors that contribute to pedestrian injury include (4,7,9,48,51,65):
• inadequate enforcement of traffic laws;
• unsafe driving practices;
• driver distraction, including mobile phone use;
• driver fatigue;
• pedestrian–vehicle conflict at pedestrian crossing points;
• reduced reaction time and reduced walking speed for the elderly;
• inability of children to gauge vehicle speed and other relevant information in
order to cross the street safely alone;
• lack of supervision of children who are too young to make safe judgements;
• pedestrian distraction, including mobile phone use (see Box 1.3);
• attitudes of drivers and pedestrians;
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