Active signage high share of fatal accidents among elderly at - - PDF document

Piotr Szagała, Warsaw University of Technology

Active signage at pedestrian crossings as a tool for improving safety

32nd ICTCT Conference in Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw unsignalised pedestrian crossings

• 5 pedestrians killed, 24 severely injured in 2017
• high share of fatal accidents among elderly

Background

• ne of the measures introduced to cope with the

problem: active signage at pedestrian crossings

• 18 installations in 2017
• analysis before – just after – one year after

installation

• all the analysed sites have two lanes in one

direction Active signage layout

Amber blinking lights Red blinking LED lights built into pavement Lights activated by pedestrians waiting to cross:

Surveyed locations 6 locations differentiated by:

• city area
• cross-section
• pedestrian and vehicle

traffic volume Objectives

• to verify the effectiveness of the newly introduced

active pedestrian crossings

• to assess the relative changes of pedestrian

safety and comfort of road crossing

• particular attention to people with limited mobility

Method

• video recording for 48 hours: before, just

after and one year after installation

• pedestrian and vehicle traffic volume
• percentage of drivers yielding to

pedestrians

• time lost by pedestrians waiting to cross
• average speeds of vehicles approaching

the crossings

Method

• pedestrian-vehicle conflicts
• traffic conflict rate
• ANOVA test to check the statistical significance
• f changes of the indicators

% drivers yielding Average waiting time Conflict rates Vehicle speeds 10 m upstream V = a+b1Q + b2δ1 + b3δ2 δ1 = 1 just after δ2 = 1 a year after

Drop in vehicle speeds 10 m upstream

site speed difference standard error Significance level R2 speed difference a year after - before just after - before Popiełuszki 3,63 0,63 0,85 1,99 Ludna 0,6 0,61 0,324 0,68 0,89 Mickiewicza dir. 1 2,23 0,69 0,001 0,73 1,52 Mickiewicza dir. 2 2,94 0,87 0,63 5,52 Grzybowska 6,74 0,66 0,85 4,61 Powstańców Śląskich 2,18 0,47 0,82 4,6 Waszyngtona dir. 1 1,4 0,5 0,005 0,60 2,61 Waszyngtona dir. 2 1,7 0,48 0,74 4,09

Analysis by user group

• people without reduced mobility
• people with reduced mobility
• elderly
• with small children
• disabled
• with baby stroller
• pedestrians in groups

Analysis done for 4 sites

% drivers yielding to pedestrians Dangerous situations

• The following situations were classified as

dangerous:

• potential conflict - pedestrians and drivers do not

change behaviour, but are dangerously close to each other

• serious conflict - users’ trajectories cross and they

undertake rapid actions to avoid collision

• a vehicle passes another vehicle that has stopped

to yield to the pedestrians

Dangerous encounters by user group Conclusions

• positive effect lasting a year, measured by "comfort"
• f crossing the road
• conflict analysis may indicate an increase in risk,

although it is difficult to make clear conclusions

• results differ significantly among crossings –

a need for individual approach

• higher willingness to yield identified for people with

reduced mobility and for groups

• improper functioning of pedestrians’ detection

Conclusions

• lasting effect of reducing the number of dangerous

situations identified only for groups

• ther users: returning to the before situation or similar

share of dangerous situations in all three periods of analysis

• pedestrian crossings with two lanes in one direction

should be narrowed to one lane or signalised

• as a temporary solution speed cushions can be

installed

Thank you for your attention

p.szagala@il.pw.edu.pl