Safety effectiveness of an upgraded midblock pedestrian crossing on an urban arterial road
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Abstract
Pedestrians are vulnerable road users who have a high risk of being struck by vehicles; their dying accounts for 8% of all road fatalities in Thailand. Thus, this study investigated the effectiveness of midblock pedestrian crossing improvements, comparing (1) a typical zebra crossing (C1), (2) a zebra crossing with traffic markings and warning signs (C2), and (3) a crossing as in C2 but with pedestrian signals (C3). This current research investigated the traffic volume and speeds of motorcycles (MC) and passenger cars (PC) before and after the improvement. The findings indicated that the 85th percentile speeds and the estimated maximum speed of MC and PC decreased significantly after the C2 and C3 improvements. Consequently, fatality probabilities of pedestrians were also estimated. It was found that the fatality probabilities of the C2 crossing slightly decreased by 5% (compared to C1), whereas the fatality probabilities of the C3 crossing significantly decreased by 53% (compared to C1). Based on the results, midblock pedestrian crossings with traffic signals could promote safer conditions for pedestrians in mixed-traffic urban areas compared to traditional zebra crossings.
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