Pedestrian safety
Improving the safety of pedestrians is important because 300 thousand are killed each year due to being hit by road vehicles. The World Health Organization say that road traffic crashes are not inevitable; they are both predictable and preventable.
According to the American Automobile Association, safety is an important issue where cars can cross the pedestrian way. The Association's position is that drivers and pedestrians share some responsibility for improving safety of road users. This position was established in the early 20th century as an effort by the US auto lobby to shift some of the blame for burgeoning traffic deaths from drivers to pedestrians.
Risks
Key risks for pedestrians are well known. Among the well-documented factors are driver behaviour ; infrastructure missing facilities ; and vehicle designs which are not forgiving to pedestrians struck by a vehicle. The Traffic Injury Research Foundation describes pedestrians as vulnerable road users because they are not protected in the same way as occupants of motor vehicles.Most pedestrian injuries occur while they are crossing a street. In the United States, 20% of pedestrian crash fatalities are linked to jaywalking, defined as improper crossing of a roadway or intersection. Most crashes involving a pedestrian occur at night. Most pedestrian fatalities are killed by a frontal impact. In such a situation, an adult pedestrian is struck by a car front, accelerating the lower part of the body forward while "the upper body is rotated and accelerated relative to the car," at which point the pelvis and thorax are hit. Then the head hits the windscreen at the velocity of the striking car. Finally, the victim falls to the ground.
Research has shown that urban crimes, or the mere perception of crimes, severely affect the mental and physical health of pedestrians. Inter-pedestrian behaviour, without the involvement of vehicles, is also a key factor to pedestrian safety.
Five states – Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas – are the site of 46% of all pedestrian deaths in the United States.
The advent of SUVs is considered a leading cause; speculation of other factors includes population growth, driver distraction with mobile phones, poor street lighting, alcohol and drugs and speeding.
Cities have had mixed results in addressing pedestrian safety with Vision Zero plan: Los Angeles fails while New York City has had success. Recent analysis of Vision Zero road upgrades in New York found an immediate reduction of about 6% in pedestrian crash incidence. Nonetheless, in the US, some pedestrians have just 40 seconds to cross a street 10 lanes wide.
Pedestrian fatalities are much more common in accident situations in the European Union than in the United States. In the European Union countries, more than 200,000 pedestrians and cyclists are injured annually. Also, each year, more than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world's roads. At a global level pedestrians constitute 22% of all road deaths, but might be two-thirds in some countries.
Pedestrian fatalities, in 2016, were 2.6 per million population in the Netherlands, 4.3 in Sweden, 4.5 in Wales, 5.3 in New Zealand, 6.0 in Germany; 7.1 in the whole United Kingdom, 7.5 in Australia, 8.4 in France, 8.4 in Spain, 9.4 in Italy, 11.1 in Israel, 13 in Japan, 13.8 in Greece, 18.5 in the United States, 22.9 in Poland, and 36.3 in Romania.
Road design
It is well documented that a minor increase in speed might greatly increase the likelihood of a crash, and exacerbate resulting casualties. For this reason, the recommended maximum speed is or in residential and high pedestrian traffic areas, with enforced traffic rules on speed limitsand traffic-calming measures.
The design of road and streets plays a key role in pedestrian safety. Roads are too often designed for motorized vehicles, without taking into account pedestrian and bicycle needs. The non-existence of sidewalk and signals increases risk for pedestrians. This defect might more easily be observed on arterial roadways, intersections and fast-speed lanes without adequate attention to pedestrian facilities. For instance, an assessment of roads in countries from many continents shows that 84% of roads are without pedestrian footpaths, while maximum limited speed is greater than 40 km/h.
Among the factors which reduce road safety for pedestrians are wider lanes, roadway widening, and roadways designed for higher speeds and with increased numbers of traffic lanes.
For this reason, some European cities such as Freiburg have lowered the speed limit to 30 km/h on 90% of its streets, to reduce risk for its 15 000 people. With such policy, 24% of daily trips are performed by foot, against 28% by bicycles, 20% by public transport and 28% by car.
A similar set of policies to discourage the use of cars and increase safety for pedestrians has been implemented by the Northern European capitals of Oslo and Helsinki. In 2019, this resulted in both cities counting zero pedestrian deaths for the first time.