Pedestrian behavior related to accident involvement

Abstract

It is important to study pedestrian behavior related to safety because as a road user group they are vulnerable in accidents.

The main goal of this research is to study pedestrian behavior and based upon the findings to recommend ways for improving pedestrian safety. The behavior of the pedestrians has been analyzed through interviews with pedestrians and through observance of behavior from video films taken at intersections.

The relationship between pedestrian behavior, knowledge and feelings with the socioeconomic background and regional characteristics (city size) has been analyzed using contingency tables, and the associated statistical tests.

Signal violation and jaywalk crossing were found to be main problem areas in pedestrian behavior. The majority of pedestrians believe that drivers have careless attitude toward pedestrians and do not trust them not to violate traffic signals. Study shows that whether the interviewed pedestrian is a driver or nondriver does not seem to have any effect on his behavior on the road. High school pedestrians had the highest percentage of non-checking traffic and improper crossing. It was found that there is not much difference in pedestrian behavior between nationalities among females. Finally some recommendations were made for improving the pedestrian safety.