Evaluation

Evaluation of the California Child Passenger Safety Initiative

Cooper, Jill F.
MacLeod, Kara E.
Ragland, David R.
2004

Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of injury and fatality to children. Child restraint systems can reduce injury, and their use has been a long-time focus of policy and programmatic work. During this time, there has been a marked increase in the number of children restrained in vehicles and a steady decline in vehicle-related injuries and fatalities to children. However, data reveal that children of color, compared to white children, are at greater risk of injury in motor vehicle crashes. To address needs of “the children left behind” from safety advances, the California Child...

Impact of Pedestrian Presence on Movement of Left-Turning Vehicles: Method, Preliminary Results & Possible Use in Intersection Decision Support

Banerjee, Ipsita
Shladover, Steven E.
Misener, James A.
Chan, Ching-Yao
Ragland, David R.
2004

Warning systems are being developed for left-turning vehicles at intersections where protected left-turns are not warranted or cannot be provided, based on limitations of right of way or intersection capacity. These are meant to provide warnings to left-turning vehicles of vehicles approaching from the opposite direction, when the time to turn may be deemed unsafe. To implement these warning systems, it is necessary to estimate in near real time, the probability of conflict between the two approaching vehicles. A study is being conducted with the help of video and radar at various...

Oakland Chinatown Pedestrian Scramble: An Evaluation

Bechtel, Allyson K.
MacLeod, Kara E.
Ragland, David R.
2003

In 2002, the City of Oakland, California implemented a scramble signal, at the intersection of 8th Street and Webster Street. Scrambles are a type of traffic signal that give pedestrians exclusive access to an intersection by stopping vehicular traffic on all approaches, allowing pedestrians to cross diagonally or conventionally. The primary objective of this evaluation was to determine whether the installation of the pedestrian scramble at this location increased pedestrian safety. An analysis was conducted of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts and pedestrian violations occurring at the...

A Review of ITS-Based Pedestrian Injury Countermeasures

Bechtel, Allyson K.
Geyer, Judy A.
Ragland, David R.
2003

Crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians caused at least 4,882 deaths and about 78,000 injuries in 2001 in the United States. In recognition of these troubling statistics, many public and private institutions look to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies. Few resources are available to provide a comprehensive summary of the effectiveness of these options. This report reviews previous scientific evaluation of red light enforcement cameras, illuminated walk signal push buttons, automated pedestrian detection systems for traffic signals, flashing crosswalk lights,...

Space Syntax: An Innovative Pedestrian Volume Modeling Tool for Pedestrian Safety

Raford, Noah
Ragland, David R.
2003

This paper describes an innovative pedestrian modeling technique known as Space Syntax, which was used to create estimates of pedestrian volumes for the city of Oakland, California. These estimates were used to calculate pedestrian exposure rates and to create a Relative Risk Index for the city’s first pedestrian master plan. A major challenge facing planners, transportation engineers, and pedestrian-safety advocates is the lack of detailed and high quality pedestrianexposure data. Exposure is defined as the rate of contact with a potentially harmful agent or event. Pedestrian exposure is...

Traffic Safety in Communities of Color

Gantz, Toni
De La Garza, Enrique J.
Ragland, David R.
Cohen, Larry
2003

Over the past half-century in the United States, medical advances, improvements in road and vehicle design, and traffic safety efforts have all helped in reducing traffic-related injury and death. However, research suggests that among the US population, certain ethnic groups, namely African Americans,* American Indians, and Latinos, continue to face higher traffic-related risk. Among all US ethnic groups, motor-vehicle injury is a leading contributor to unnecessary injury and premature death. Improving traffic safety outcomes among these groups could help reduce their overall health...

Collaboration Math: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Cohen, Larry
Aboelata, Mana
Gantz, Toni
Van Wert, Jennifer
2003

Reducing the toll of traffic-related injuries requires a concerted effort, calling on the resources, commitment and expertise of diverse agencies, professionals and community members.1,2 Traffic safety is affected by numerous aspects of community life such as how neighborhoods are designed, how fast cars travel and how safe people feel walking or driving to key destinations.

Preventing traffic-related injury is a responsibility shared by many. As evidenced by many federal, state and local efforts, partnerships, coalitions and networks have become common ways to address the incidence...

Rural Road Links: A Review on Current Research Projects & Initiatives Aimed at Reducing Vehicle Crash Fatalities on Rural Roads

Quiros, Lesliam
Shaver, Barrett
2003

Rural America accounts for a smaller and more dispersed portion of the nation’s population, yet it comprises a considerable portion of the transportation system. Rural areas account for approximately 83 percent of the land in the U.S and their roads account for 80 percent of the total U.S. road mileage and 40 percent of the vehicle miles traveled. Fatalities on rural roads surpass those in urban areas, even though urban areas are more densely populated and consequently, have a higher traffic flow. In 2001 alone, fatal crashes on rural areas accounted for 61 percent of all traffic...

Intersection Decision Support Project: Taxonomy of Crossing-Path Crashes at Intersections Using GES 2000 Data

Ragland, David R.
Zabyshny, Aleksandr
2003

The Intersection Decision Support (IDS) Project is designed to reduce crossing-path (CP) crashes at intersections by providing crucial information to drivers that would help them avoid such crashes. Over the past decade, researchers have used the General Estimates System (GES, a representative sample of police-reported crashes in the US) and other data sources to develop a taxonomy of CP crashes and pre-crash scenarios as groundwork for crash-prevention efforts. The current study builds on and extends prior work by constructing a taxonomy of CP crashes using data from the 2000 GES and...

An Intensive Pedestrian Safety Engineering Study Using Computerized Crash Analysis

Ragland, David R.
Markowitz, Frank
MacLeod, Kara E.
2003

Over the past year, the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) conducted an intensive pedestrian-safety engineering study, the PedSafe Study. PedSafe was funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)*, which also funded companion studies in Las Vegas and Miami. The study was designed to analyze pedestrian injuries by zones (i.e., neighborhoods or districts) and to identify those most amenable to prevention efforts. The DPT expects to utilize the methodology and information from the PedSafe study to help shape a citywide pedestrian master plan. This paper describes the...