Review of pedestrian safety research

Although pedestrian casualties have reduced markedly during the past decade, they still represent a significant proportion of all reported road accident casualties occuring in Britain. The incidence of casualties and fatalities is variable between different age groups, and the younger and older sections of the population appear more frequently in pedestrian casualty statistics than their incidence in the population as a whole would suggest. Among young people, pedestrian fatalities are a significant proportion of the total number of deaths from all causes; at the other extreme, over a third of all pedestrians killed are aged 70 or more, although this is only a small proportion of all deaths in this age group. The reasons for pedestrians becoming road casualties are many and varied; the reasons are interlocking and are not completely understood. Research carried out in the past has led to a wealth of information being collected on a number of different aspects of the problem, but there has been little integration between the findings of studies in different fields. Where preventive measures of various types have been taken, there has generally been little monitoring of the results in pedestrian safety terms. The objective of this study was to report and review the work carried out to date (predominantly in the UK but also drawing on experience from overseas) in a number of key fields, and to suggest where deficiencies exist which could be met by further, sharply focussed research. The study was commissioned by the Human and Social Factors Division of the TRRL, and the recommendations have therefore been tailored to its specific research interests, although a number of other areas have also been identified as being of importance. As part of the work, an extensive bibliography of publications in the pedestrian safety field was drawn up, which is included in the Report.