Safety Effects and Guideline Development for Uncontrolled Midblock Crosswalks

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

3-2008

Abstract

This paper proposes a set of guidelines for marking midblock crosswalks at uncontrolled locations along Florida’s State Highway System through a comprehensive process. The paper summarizes previous research on the effect of crosswalk markings on pedestrian-vehicle collision risks. The paper sets up a simple model of pedestrian-vehicle collision risks and applies the model to identify three mechanisms that help explain why crosswalk markings may lead to higher pedestrian-vehicle collision risks and to identify engineering treatments to counter these mechanisms. The guidelines are structured to avoid gaps in applicability that would make their implementation difficult. The guidelines include all midblock locations with a well established demand, adequate sight distance and lighting. The guidelines include a spreadsheet tool for estimating the likelihood of a new midblock crosswalk being used and take into account available evidence that crosswalk markings appear to increase pedestrian-vehicle collision risks under certain conditions as well as uncertainty in that evidence. The guidelines are designed to be provisional and include a monitoring process for implemented midblock crosswalks at uncontrolled locations.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

ITE 2008 Technical Conference and Exhibit, Compendium of Technical Papers, Washington, D.C., March 2008.

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