Kim Myeonghyeon, Kho Seung-Young, Kim Dong-Kyu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Institute of Construction and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
J Safety Res. 2017 Jun;61:33-40. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2017.02.011. Epub 2017 Mar 6.
The high percentage of fatalities in pedestrian-involved crashes is a critical social problem. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors influencing injury severity in pedestrian crashes by examining the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the regions where crashes occurred.
To understand the correlation between the unobserved characteristics of pedestrian crashes in a defined region, we apply a hierarchical ordered model, in which we set crash characteristics as lower-level variables and municipality characteristics as upper-level. Pedestrian crash data were collected and analyzed for a three-year period from 2011 to 2013. The estimation results show the statistically significant factors that increase injury severity of pedestrian crashes.
At the crash level, the factors associated with increased severity of pedestrian injury include intoxicated drivers, road-crossing pedestrians, elderly pedestrians, heavy vehicles, wide roads, darkness, and fog. At the municipality level, municipalities with low population density, lower level of financial independence, fewer doctors, and a higher percentage of elderly residents experience more severe pedestrian crashes. Municipalities ranked as having the top 10% pedestrian fatality rate (fatalities per 100,000 residents) have rates 7.4 times higher than municipalities with the lowest 10% rate of fatalities. Their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics also have significant differences. The proposed model accounts for a 7% unexplained variation in injury severity outcomes between the municipalities where crashes occurred.
To enhance the safety of vulnerable pedestrians, considerable investments of time and effort in pedestrian safety facilities and zones should be made. More certain and severe punishments should be also given for the traffic violations that increase injury severity of pedestrian crashes. Furthermore, central and local governments should play a cooperative role to reduce pedestrian fatalities. Practical applications: Based on our study results, we suggest policy directions to enhance pedestrian safety.
涉及行人的撞车事故中高死亡率是一个严峻的社会问题。本研究的目的是通过检查撞车事故发生地区的人口统计学和社会经济特征，调查影响行人撞车事故中受伤严重程度的因素。
为了解特定区域内行人撞车事故未观察到的特征之间的相关性，我们应用了分层有序模型，其中我们将撞车事故特征设置为较低层次变量，将市政特征设置为较高层次变量。收集并分析了2011年至2013年三年期间的行人撞车事故数据。估计结果显示了增加行人撞车事故受伤严重程度的具有统计学意义的因素。
在撞车事故层面，与行人受伤严重程度增加相关的因素包括醉酒司机、横穿马路的行人、老年行人、重型车辆、宽阔道路、黑暗和大雾。在市政层面，人口密度低、财政独立水平较低、医生较少以及老年居民比例较高的市政地区行人撞车事故更为严重。行人死亡率排名前10%（每10万居民中的死亡人数）的市政地区的死亡率是死亡率最低的10%的市政地区的7.4倍。它们的人口统计学和社会经济特征也存在显著差异。所提出的模型解释了撞车事故发生的市政地区之间受伤严重程度结果中7%的无法解释的差异。
为提高弱势行人的安全性，应在行人安全设施和区域方面投入大量时间和精力。对于增加行人撞车事故受伤严重程度的交通违法行为也应给予更明确和严厉的处罚。此外，中央和地方政府应发挥合作作用以减少行人死亡。实际应用：基于我们的研究结果，我们提出了提高行人安全性的政策方向。
