Pedestrian Safety

Ever since man created the first car, they have been a threat to pedestrian safety. The first pedestrian motor vehicle fatality in the United States occurred in 1899. Since then, as cars have become the predominate source of transportation, pedestrian safety has been a rising concern. Statistically, traveling by airplane is the safest option and walking is the most dangerous, accounting for 13% of all fatalities but only 10% of trips. Although walking has its dangers it is the healthiest way to travel by increasing physical activity and is non polluting. As cities continue to push pedestrian and biking transit use through complete streets and other incentives the increase in non-motorized transportation poses a safety issue.

According to a recent report motorized vehicles killed a pedestrian every two hours in the United States in 2010. That is 4280 people who needlessly lost their lives, plus another 70,000 injured. Most of these crashes occur either a) at an intersection or b) at night. Many times the motorist is exceeding the speed limit or simply was unaware of pedestrians. A comprehensive pedestrian safety program includes public health initiatives and revised planning practices. Public health programs provide education for pedestrians and awareness for vehicle operators while planners and city officials create infrastructure that promotes safety.

Urban planners promote safety by revising the built environment. Zoning codes handle issues like curb radius, how wide or tight a corner is, which has a direct effect on the speed that cars travel while turning. The tighter the curb radius the slower vehicles will travel around the corners and the less distance a pedestrian has to walk to cross the intersection. Other issues include travel lane width, emergency vehicle accommodation, and designed travel speeds. But we will get more in-depth with those topics later. There are also safety features such as properly marked crosswalks and pedestrian counters (although this does not make up for having to cross 5+ lanes of traffic).

Typical wide intersection designed for cars
Photo courtesy of http://www.pedbikeimages.org / Libby Thomas

Recently the State of Hawaii kicked off their third annual Pedestrian Safety Awareness Month. This program aims to encourage safe pedestrian and bicycle behaviors as well as increase driver awareness around. There are different events planned to target high risk groups such as senior citizens and college students. In Hawaii alone there were 4300 traffic accidents last year that included pedestrians.  As of 2012 Hawaii is the only state in the US to have such a program.