Pedestrian safety - Global Road Safety Partnership

Pedestrian safety in roadway design and land-use planning
at many points, and pedestrian facilities are lacking on many roads and/or ignored
by vehicle drivers. In high-income countries, separation of slow and fast modes of
transport and implementation of traffic-calming measures have become common
practices in roadway design since the 1970s and 1980s. Some low- and middle-income
countries face a serious problem where settlements flourish along national roads.
Many of these settlements and roads lack sidewalks and other measures for pedestrian
safety (see Box 2.2). Improving pedestrian safety in mixed traffic environments may
utilize several measures such as sidewalks, raised crossings, reducing legal speed limits
and road narrowing. These measures are discussed in Module 4.
BOX 2.2: Planning for safety of settlements along national roads
Road infrastructure is important for the economic
development of low- and middle-income countries.
Movement of goods and people within and between
these countries requires a road network. These
countries are building and improving roads to facilitate
this movement, but inter-urban roads often pass
through villages, towns and cities without adequate
traffic-calming measures and sufficient separation of
residential roads from fast-speed, inter-urban road
networks. Inadequate foresight and safety planning
in road network development creates risks for settlements
along national roads.
The mixing of human settlements and roads of various
speeds increases the road traffic injury risk in
villages and towns. In some cases, existing roads
that pass through settlements are widened, often
taking up the space meant for sidewalks. In other
cases, human settlements and commercial activities
commonly develop along inter-urban roads. The planning
of these settlements does not often take into
consideration the safety of pedestrians and other
road users. Beginning with small markets along the
road for agricultural products, these settlements
grow into cottages and shops, and finally large
buildings along both sides of the road. Commerce,
residences and the road network combine in a way
that increases risk as outlined below:
• Intersections between local and national roads
that create hazardous spots in a village. All types
of road users, travelling at widely varying speeds,
converge on a single intersection, causing conflicts
and hazards.
• Shops and other businesses generate traffic that
further complicates the traffic flow.
• Mini-buses worsen the situation by stopping wherever
passengers and drivers desire, without due
regard to safe pedestrian crossing.
It is necessary to address road traffic injury risk at
locations where residential areas and businesses
develop along inter-urban roads. Master plans for
appropriate land use and urban development need
to be coordinated among different governmental and
private agencies. Specific measures to improve road
safety – in particular, pedestrian safety – in these
situations include:
• Separating traffic: Placing local distributor or agricultural
roads alongside or parallel to high-speed
roads effectively separates cyclists and pedestrians
from dangerous traffic.
• Reducing speed: Reducing the number of lanes
to slow down vehicles when entering a settled
© Hans-joachim Vollpracht
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