Department of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering, University of New Mexico, MSC01 1070, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87133, United States.
Department of Civil Engineering, California State University, Sacramento, CA 95819, United States.
J Safety Res. 2021 Dec;79:14-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2021.07.002. Epub 2021 Aug 12.
Pedestrian fatalities in the United States increased 45.5% between 2009 and 2017. More than 85% of those additional pedestrian fatalities occurred at night.
We examine Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data for fatal pedestrian crashes that occurred in the dark between 2002 and 2017. Within-variable and before/after examinations of crashes in terms of infrastructure, user, vehicle, and situational characteristics are performed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and two-sample t-tests. We model changes in crash characteristic proportions between 2002-2009 and 2010-2017 using linear regressions and test for autocorrelation with Breusch-Godfrey tests.
The increase in fatal nighttime pedestrian crashes is most strongly correlated with infrastructure factors: non-intersection unmarked locations (saw 80.8% of additional fatalities); 40-45 mph roads (54.6%); five-lane roads (40.7%); urban (99.7%); and arterials (81.1%). In addition, SUVs were involved in 39.7% of additional fatalities, overrepresenting their share of the fleet. Increased pedestrian alcohol and drug involvement warrant further investigation. The age of pedestrians killed increased more (18.1%) than the national average (3.2%).
By identifying factors related to the increase in nighttime pedestrian fatalities, this work constitutes a vital first step in making our streets safer for pedestrians. Practical Applications: More research is needed to understand the efficacy of different solutions, but this paper provides guidance for such future research. Engineering solutions such as road diets or traffic calming may be used to improve identified infrastructure issues by reducing vehicle speeds and road widths. Rethinking vehicle design, especially high front profiles, may improve vehicle issues. However, the problems giving rise to these pedestrian fatalities are likely a result of not only engineering issues but also interrelated social and political factors. Solutions may be correspondingly comprehensive, employing non-linear, systems-based approaches such as Safe Systems.
2009 年至 2017 年间，美国行人死亡人数增加了 45.5%。其中超过 85%的额外行人死亡发生在夜间。
我们研究了 2002 年至 2017 年夜间发生的致命行人碰撞事故的伤亡分析报告系统（FARS）数据。利用方差分析（ANOVA）和两样本 t 检验，对基础设施、用户、车辆和情境特征进行了变量内和前后检查。我们使用线性回归模型来模拟 2002-2009 年和 2010-2017 年之间碰撞特征比例的变化，并使用 Breusch-Godfrey 检验测试自相关。
夜间行人致命事故的增加与基础设施因素密切相关：非交叉口无标记地点（增加了 80.8%的致命事故）；40-45 英里/小时的道路（54.6%）；五车道道路（40.7%）；城市道路（99.7%）；以及干线道路（81.1%）。此外，SUV 参与了 39.7%的额外致命事故，超过了其在车队中的份额。行人酒精和药物使用的增加需要进一步调查。被撞死的行人年龄增长幅度（18.1%）高于全国平均水平（3.2%）。
通过确定与夜间行人死亡人数增加相关的因素，这项工作是使我们的街道对行人更安全的重要第一步。
需要进一步研究不同解决方案的效果，但本文为未来的研究提供了指导。工程解决方案，如道路瘦身或交通减速，可用于改善确定的基础设施问题，降低车辆速度和道路宽度。重新考虑车辆设计，特别是高前端轮廓，可能会改善车辆问题。然而，导致这些行人死亡的问题不仅是工程问题，还有相互关联的社会和政治因素。解决办法可能同样全面，采用非线性、基于系统的方法，如安全系统。
