The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that examines the role of crossing locations and light conditions in pedestrian injury severity. The report also includes a set of proposed guidelines for marking midblock crosswalks at uncontrolled locations along Florida's state highway system.

This report examines two aspects of pedestrian safety at midblock locations. In Part I, the report assesses the role of crossing locations and light conditions in pedestrian injury severity through a multivariate regression analysis to control for many other factors that also may influence pedestrian injury severity.  Crossing locations include midblock and intersections, and light conditions include daylight, dark with street lighting, and dark without street lighting. 

The report formulates a theoretical framework on the determinants of pedestrian injury severity, and specifies an empirical model accordingly.  The report applies the ordered probit model to the KABCO severity scale of pedestrian injuries which occurred while attempting street crossing from 1986 to 2003 in Florida. 

In Part II, the report proposes a set of guidelines for marking midblock crosswalks at uncontrolled locations along Florida's State Highway System through a comprehensive process.  It describes the approach taken to developing these guidelines and a structure synthesized from guidelines from 28 localities.  It summarizes the available evidence on the effect of crosswalk markings on pedestrian-vehicle collision risks.  Before presenting the proposed guidelines, the report sets up a simple model of pedestrian-vehicle collision risks, uses this model to identify three mechanisms that help explain why crosswalk markings may lead to higher pedestrian-vehicle collision risks, and uses this model to identify engineering treatments to counter these mechanisms.

External Links:

More Information: www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=7047

Further Reading:

Pedestrian Safety at Midblock Locations