Driver/Pedestrian Understanding and Behavior at Marked and Unmarked Crosswalks

Pedestrian injuries at crosswalk locations represent a significant problem. In 2002, 22.7 percent of US pedestrians involved in collisions were in a crosswalk at the time of the collision, and over 96% of these occurred at an intersection. Almost all crosswalk collisions resulted in pedestrian injury or fatality (98.6 percent), and about one-third resulted in severe or fatal injury (National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) and General Estimates System (GES) 2002). As the owner of the California State Highway System, Caltrans is responsible for providing access to safe and convenient travel for pedestrians as users of a shared roadway network. Inadequate pedestrian safety in marked crosswalks at unsignalized intersections continues to challenge transportation engineers and planners. Results from thirty years of numerous localized studies have been confirmed by a nationwide study which indicate that marked crosswalks across multi-lane roads with travel volumes exceeding 10,000 average daily traffic (ADT) present a higher accident risk for pedestrians than do unmarked crossings. Many other agencies around the nation have addressed this by removing marked crosswalks at unsignalized intersections. This approach results in unacceptable pedestrian mobility restrictions and should not be embraced as Caltrans’ policy.