Pedestrian Safety

Pedestrian Safety Month During COVID-19

September 18, 2020
September is Pedestrian Safety Month!

This year's Pedestrian Safety month looks very different during COVID-19, with communities practicing social distancing, essential workers traveling to their work while others work from home, students are returning to school virtually, and in some cases activities are resuming and businesses are reopening as it is safe to do so. In the midst of this, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is encouraging all of us to look out for one another.

"It comes down to awareness, education...

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

August 30, 2020

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

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,...

Register now for June 25th webinar "How to Conduct a Walk Audit" with WALKSacramento & SafeTREC's Jarah Crowner

June 23, 2020
Join the latest webinar in WALKSacramento's Safe Routes to Parks and Healthy Retail Webinar Series
How to Conduct a Walk Audit

DATE: Thursday, June 25th, 2020
TIME:
1pm - 2pm PST
REGISTRATION:
https://bit.ly/37TltTQ

This webinar hosted by WALKSacramento will provide participants with tools needed to lead and conduct your own assessment of walking and biking...

Media Narratives of Pedestrian & Bicyclist-Involved Crashes

May 20, 2020

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...