Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2016 Preliminary Data

The present study, based on preliminary data from all states and the District of Columbia (DC) for the first six months of 2016, found an increase of seven percent in the reported number of fatalities compared with the first six months of 2015. More than twice as many states had increases (34) than had decreases (15 plus DC) compared with 2015.After adjusting for anticipated underreporting in the preliminary state data, GHSA estimates the number of pedestrians killed in 2016 increased by 11 percent compared with 2015. This was the largest annual increase in both the number and percentage of pedestrian fatalities in the 40 years that national records have been kept, with the second largest increase occurring in 2015. In addition, pedestrian deaths as a percent of total motor vehicle crash deaths have increased steadily, from 11 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2015.The number of nationwide pedestrian fatalities for all of 2016 was estimated based on preliminary data provided by State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) for the first six months of 2016, taking into account historic data regarding the relative proportions of pedestrian fatalities that occurred in the first and second halves of the year. About 6,000 pedestrian fatalities are estimated to have occurred in 2016, which could make 2016 the first year in more than two decades with more than 6,000 pedestrain deaths

Scoping study of the feasibility of developing a software tool to assist designers of pedestrian crossing places

This report is the outcome of a scoping study of how guidance can be provided for practising highway engineers in designing informal pedestrian crossing facilities. The main component of this report is an analysis by an IT consultant of a range of mechanisms for delivery of this. The study was informed by the opinions of a group of practitioners who have a direct interest in the provision of pedestrian facilities. These results are placed in context and their consequences are explored in the first part of the report

Enhanced Accessibility for People with Disabilities Living in Urban Areas

[Excerpt] People with disabilities constitute a significant proportion of the poor in developing countries. If internationally agreed targets on reducing poverty are to be reached, it is critical that specific measures be taken to reduce the societal discrimination and isolation that people with disabilities continue to face. Transport is an important enabler of strategies to fight poverty through enhancing access to education, employment, and social services. This project aims to further the understanding of the mobility and access issues experienced by people with disabilities in developing countries, and to identify specific steps that can be taken to start addressing problems. A major objective of the project is to compile a compendium of guidelines that can be used by government authorities, advocacy groups, and donor/loan agencies to improve the access of people with disabilities to transport and other services in urban areas

Accident Analysis and Prevention: Course Notes 1987/88

This report consists of the notes from a series of lectures given by the authors for a course entitled Accident Analysis and Prevention. The course took place during the second term of a one year Masters degree course in Transport Planning and Engineering run by the Institute for Transport Studies and the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. The course consisted of 18 lectures of which 16 are reported on in this document (the remaining two, on Human Factors, are not reported on in this document as no notes were provided). Each lecture represents one chapter of this document, except in two instances where two lectures are covered in one chapter (Chapters 10 and 14). The course first took place in 1988, and at the date of publication has been run for a second time. This report contains the notes for the initial version of the course. A number of changes were made in the content and emphasis of the course during its second run, mainly due to a change of personnel, with different ideas and experiences in the field of accident analysis and prevention. It is likely that each time the course is run, there will be significant changes, but that the notes provided in this document can be considered to contain a number of the core elements of any future version of the course

Sonification of guidance data during road crossing for people with visual impairments or blindness

In the last years several solutions were proposed to support people with visual impairments or blindness during road crossing. These solutions focus on computer vision techniques for recognizing pedestrian crosswalks and computing their relative position from the user. Instead, this contribution addresses a different problem; the design of an auditory interface that can effectively guide the user during road crossing. Two original auditory guiding modes based on data sonification are presented and compared with a guiding mode based on speech messages. Experimental evaluation shows that there is no guiding mode that is best suited for all test subjects. The average time to align and cross is not significantly different among the three guiding modes, and test subjects distribute their preferences for the best guiding mode almost uniformly among the three solutions. From the experiments it also emerges that higher effort is necessary for decoding the sonified instructions if compared to the speech instructions, and that test subjects require frequent `hints' (in the form of speech messages). Despite this, more than 2/3 of test subjects prefer one of the two guiding modes based on sonification. There are two main reasons for this: firstly, with speech messages it is harder to hear the sound of the environment, and secondly sonified messages convey information about the "quantity" of the expected movement

Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2015 Preliminary Data

The number of pedestrian fatalities in the United States increased 19 percent from 2009 to 2014, a period in which total traffic deaths decreased by about 4 percent. In fact, pedestrians now account for the largest proportion of traffic fatalities recorded in the past 25 years. Earlier studies by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), based on preliminary data reported by State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs), were the first to predict recent increases in pedestrian fatalities.The present study, based on preliminary data from all states and the District of Columbia (DC) for the first six months of 2015, found an increase of 6 percent in the reported number of fatalities compared with the first six months of 2014. After adjusting for anticipated underreporting in the preliminary state data, GHSA estimates there has been a 10 percent increase in the number of pedestrians killed in 2015 compared with 2014. In addition, pedestrian deaths as a percent of total motor vehicle crash deaths have increased steadily from 11 percent in 2005-2007 to 15 percent in 2014. It has been 25 years (1990) since pedestrians accounted for 15 percent of total traffic fatalities. Preliminary data indicate that pedestrians will represent about 15 percent of total fatalities again in 2015

Understanding the role of performance targets in transport policy

The measurement of performance in the public sector has become increasingly important in recent years and it is now commonplace for transport organisations, and local and national governments, to publish performance goals for service supply and quality. Such commitments, when time referenced, are known as targets. This paper explain how changes in management style, consumer rights legislation, contractual obligations and other factors have combined to make management-by targets increasingly common in the public sector. The advantages and disadvantages of management-by-targets are illustrated through discussion of the processes and experience of setting transport targets in UK national transport policy. We conclude that while some of the targets have had a significant impact on policy makers, managers and their agents, the effects have not always been as intended

Ergonomic standards for pedestrian areas for disabled people: literature review and consultations

As part of the project for the Transport and Road Research Laboratory concerned with the development of design guidance for pedestrian areas and footways to satisfy the needs of disabled and elderly people, a thorough examination of the literature was required. In addition the literature search was to be complemented by a wide-ranging series of discussions with local authorities, organisations representing the interests of elderly and disabled people, and other interested agencies. This Working Paper sets out the findings of this exercise. The objective of the literature review and the consultations was to identify the key impediments for elderly and disabled people when using pedestrian areas and footways. The current guidelines and standards relating to footways, pedestrianised areas and access to buildings were to be identified and their adequacy commented upon, as were the conflicts such recommendations raise between various groups of disabled people and with able-bodied people. The consultations were intended to provide greater insights into what the literature highlighted, and to suggest possible solutions. The literature review produced over 400 key references and a list of 35 impediments. A more detailed examination of the literature and the consultations reduced this list to six key impediments namely: parking; public transport waiting areas; movement distances; surface conditions; ramps, and information provision. The type and scale of problem created by the above impediments for various groups of disabled and elderly people are discussed, together with their measurement and assessment. The type and adequacy of existing design standards and guidance relating to these impediments are also outlined