Pedestrian Safety

New Release: 2020 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Fact Sheets

September 30, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON
2020 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Fact Sheets feature recent data on some of California's most pressing traffic safety issues to help inform future road safety efforts during the pandemic
COVID-19 and Traffic Safety

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a series of public health measures to keep communities safe, like the stay at home order and physical distancing orders affecting operations of schools, restaurants, retail, and other non essential businesses. ...

New Research Highlight: Commercial vehicles, fatigue, parking, and safety

August 30, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to share a new research highlight by research analyst Katherine Gosselin, "Commercial vehicles, fatigue, parking, and safety."

New research highlight focuses on the public health and road safety hazards of commercial driver operator fatigue and not having access to truck parking

For commercial drivers, operator fatigue and parking in undesignated areas can result in dangerous collisions. Exacerbating this issue is a lack of freight truck parking, making it difficult for truck operators to find a safe spot when in need of rest. For bicyclists and...

Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training (CPBST) Program Workshop Follow-Up Survey Highlights

Chen, Katherine L.
Kuroda, Kaori
2020

The Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training Program (CPBST) is a joint effort of the University of California Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (UCB SafeTREC) and California Walks (Cal Walks). Founded in 2009, the Community Pedestrian Safety Training program was expanded in 2016 to include bicycle safety improvements. The purpose of the CPBST is to:

Educate local residents and safety advocates on how to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety; Empower community partners to advocate for safety improvements in their neighborhoods; and Strengthen...

Media Narratives of Pedestrian & Bicyclist-Involved Crashes

Polovin, Marta
2020
Pedestrian & bicyclist-involved crashes have been increasing throughout the United States. Previous research has shown that media and popular discourse disproportionately blames pedestrians and cyclists for their own injuries and/or deaths, while obscuring the role of motorists in these crashes and ignoring the broader road safety context (like infrastructure and speed limits). Recent research highlights how media framing of these crashes can affect perceptions of cause, influencing public opinion about responsibility and consequences, and demonstrates the need for comprehensive and...

Commercial vehicles, fatigue, parking and safety

Gosselin, Katherine
2020
For commercial drivers, operator fatigue and parking in undesignated areas can result in dangerous collisions. Exacerbating this issue is a lack of freight truck parking, making it difficult for truck operators to find a safe spot when in need of rest. For bicyclists and pedestrians, loading and unloading commercial vehicles in downtowns also present hazards. Increasing the availability of legal truck parking could improve safety for all road users.

2020 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Pedestrian Safety

Chen, Katherine L.
Tsai, Bor-Wen
Fortin, Garrett
Cooper, Jill F.
2020

Everyone is a pedestrian, whether or not walking is one’s primary mode of travel. As a commute mode, walking is gaining in numbers. In its 2020 report, “Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State, 2019 Preliminary Data” the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) reports that pedestrian fatalities in the nation have increased disproportionately to other traffic deaths. Pedestrian fatalities as a proportion of total motor vehicle deaths increased from 12 percent in 2009 to 17 percent in 2018. Moreover, pedestrian fatalities increased 53 percent from 2009 to 2018 while other traffic deaths...

New Release: California Traffic Safety Survey 2020

July 22, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to release the California Traffic Safety Survey 2020 led by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants (E&W). This study was conducted on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley.

Overview of the 2020 Study

The California Statewide Public Opinion Traffic Study is an annual cross-sectional survey of California drivers ages 18 and over regarding their opinions on traffic safety issues such as speeding, distracted driving,...

Media Narratives of Pedestrian & Bicyclist-Involved Crashes

May 20, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to share a new research highlight by graduate student researcher Marta Polovin, "Media Narratives of Pedestrian & Bicyclist-Involved Crashes."

New research highlight focuses on how media and popular discourse factor into traffic safety perspectives and outcomes. Pedestrian & bicyclist-involved crashes have been increasing throughout the United States. Previous research has shown that media and popular discourse disproportionately blames pedestrians and cyclists for their own injuries and/or deaths, while obscuring the role of motorists in these...

New resource: CPBST Program Workshop Follow-Up Survey Highlights

April 28, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

According to the latest traffic safety data from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), while traffic fatalities have decreased 8.3% from 3,884 in 2017 to 3,563 in 2018, the safety for those walking and biking in our communities continues to be a concern. In 2018, there were 893 pedestrian fatalities (a 5% decrease from 2017) and 155 bicyclist fatalities (an increase of 6.89% from 2017). Ensuring that our communities are safe for walking, biking and rolling is key for community health...

New Features Added to Street Story Tool

April 20, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

Exciting news! Features around micromobility and infrastructure improvements have been added to UC Berkeley SafeTREC’s Street Story, an online community engagement tool that allows residents, community groups and agencies to collect information about transportation collisions, near-misses, general hazards and safe locations to travel. This information is publicly accessible in downloadable maps and tables, and can be easily recorded and shared with community partners....