Current Trends
Queens Boulevard Pedestrian Safety Project -- New York City
To address the problem of pedestrian injuries, the Safety Division
of
the New York City Department of Transportation established an Urban
Pedestrian Safety Strategy in 1985. The strategy called for the
collection, mapping, and analysis of collision data to identify
hazardous sites and develop interventions. The Queens Boulevard
Pedestrian Safety Project, an example of the application of this
strategy, focused on fatal injuries to pedestrians. For this
project,
1980-1984 data were examined from investigation reports of a
special
police unit that responded within 1 hour to calls from local police
precincts when a severe pedestrian injury occurred. If a pedestrian
fatality had already occurred or the physician providing emergency
medical care determined that the victim was not likely to survive,
the
investigators collected information about the injury circumstances,
vehicle characteristics, and persons involved. Using this
information,
the Department of Transportation identified factors associated with
risk of pedestrian fatalities at Queens Boulevard and planned
interventions to improve safety at this site.
Queens Boulevard is the widest street (175-225 feet) in New York
City.
More than 60,000 vehicles traverse its 12 traffic lanes daily. Spot
mapping of 1980-1984 police data identified a geographic cluster of
22
deaths and 18 likely fatalities along a 2.5-mile length of the
street.
Age was known for 36 (90%) of the 40 injured pedestrians;
pedestrians
injured along Queens Boulevard were older than pedestrians injured
in
the entire city (Figure 1). All 20 fatally injured pedestrians for
whom
ages were known were greater than or equal to60 years old.
Because many of the fatalities occurred in older pedestrians
crossing
the street, the following interventions were implemented: 1)
modification of stop light signals to increase pedestrian crossing
time; 2) roadway markings to emphasize pedestrian crosswalks,
traffic
lanes, and the direction of traffic flow; 3) pedestrian signals on
median islands; 4) oversized speed limit signs and increased police
enforcement of the speed limit; and 5) safety education
presentations
at senior citizen centers. The estimated cost of these
interventions
was $150,000.
Based on the average daily motor vehicle traffic volume on the
Queensboro Bridge, the average daily traffic volume on Queens
Boulevard
may have increased by 19% in the 2 years after the interventions
when
compared with traffic volume during the 5 years preceding the
interventions. Despite these increases in volume, the annual
occurrence
of fatal and likely fatal pedestrian injuries decreased
substantially
after the interventions (43% and 86%, respectively) (Figure 2).
Citywide occurrence of fatal pedestrian injuries decreased by only
4%
over the same period.
Reported by: R Retting, Safety Div, SI Schwartz, M Kulewicz, Safety
Engineering, New York City Dept of Transportation; LT D
Buhrmeister,
Accident Investigation Squad, New York City Police Dept.
Unintentional
Injuries Section, Epidemiology Br, Div of Injury Epidemiology and
Control, Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control, CDC.
Editorial Note
Editorial Note: Despite a slight decline in the rate of pedestrian
fatalities associated with motor vehicle collisions over the past
decade, over 7000 such deaths still occur each year in the United
States (1). An estimated 80,000 nonfatal pedestrian injuries
occurred
during 1986 (2). Pedestrian fatalities accounted for an estimated
15%
of all 1986 traffic fatalities and 23% of urban traffic fatalities
(3).
Pedestrian deaths represent an even greater proportion of traffic
fatalities in the most densely populated urban areas. In New York
City,
for example, 314 (52%) of 610 traffic fatalities in 1987 were among
pedestrians (4).
Motor vehicle traffic control traditionally has focused on
optimization of traffic flow and, more recently, conservation of
fuel.
In general, safety concerns, particularly pedestrian safety, have
received less emphasis. For example, to reduce fuel consumption,
all
states in the United States had adopted traffic laws allowing right
turns on red lights by the end of the 1970s. These right turns,
however, appear to have increased police-reported collision rates,
particularly for elderly pedestrians in
urban areas (5). An additional impediment to intervention is the
public
perception of such injuries as "accidents"--unavoidable by-products
of
motor vehicle travel--rather than "injuries," for which preventive
measures can be taken. Furthermore, there has been a tendency to
blame
pedestrian injury on pedestrian negligence (6,7), yet drivers and
environmental conditions play an important role and cannot be
excluded
from the injury prevention equation (8).
The Queens Boulevard Pedestrian Safety Project demonstrates how
focusing on injury prevention and incorporating resources not
traditionally involved in public health can substantially improve
safety with little effort or expense. Studies indicate that
pedestrian
injuries have their greatest impact on the very young, the very
old,
and the intoxicated (3,6-13). By recognizing Queens Boulevard as a
street segment with an unusually large number of pedestrian
injuries
and identifying the elderly as the primary population at risk,
traffic
engineers and others devised interventions focusing primarily on
disabilities of vision and agility in the elderly. This project
suggests that pedestrian injuries may be prevented with
interventions
involving engineering, enforcement, education, legislation, and
zoning.
With a multidisciplinary approach and safety as a priority, public
health officials, traffic planners, law enforcement officials, and
other public safety workers can continue to take steps to reduce
fatalities on U.S. roads.
References
National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics
mortality
data, multiple cause of death detail (machine-readable public-use
data
file). Hyattsville, Maryland: US Department of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service (annual).
2.National Safety Council. Accident facts: 1987 edition. Chicago:
National Safety Council, 1987.
3.National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Fatal Accident
Reporting System 1986. Washington, DC: US Department of
Transportation,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1988; DOT
publication
no. (HS)807-245.
4.New York City Department of Transportation. Traffic fatalities in
New York City: 1987. New York: New York City Department of
Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, 1988.
5.Zador P, Moshman J, Marcus L. Adoption of right turn on red:
effects
on crashes at signalized intersections. Accid Anal Prev
1982;14:219-34.
6.Solheim K. Pedestrian deaths in Oslo traffic accidents. Br Med J
1964;1:81-3.
7.McCarroll JR, Braunstein PW, Cooper W, et al. Fatal pedestrian
automotive accidents. JAMA 1962;180:127-33.
8.Baker SP, Robertson LS, O'Neill B. Fatal pedestrian collisions:
driver negligence. Am J Public Health 1974;64:318-25.
9.Allard R. Excess mortality from traffic accidents among elderly
pedestrians living in the inner city. Am J Public Health
1982;72:853-4.
10.Baker SP. The man in the street: a tale of two cities
(Commentary).
Am J Public Health 1975;65:524-5.
11.Haddon W Jr, Valien R, McCarroll JR, Umberger CJ. A controlled
investigation of the characteristics of adult pedestrians fatally
injured by motor vehicles in Manhattan. J Chronic Dis
1961;14:655-78.
12.Mueller BA, Rivara FP, Bergman AB. Factors associated with
pedestrian-vehicle collision injuries and fatalities. West J Med
1987;146:243-5.
13.Tanz RR, Christoffel KK. Pedestrian injury: the next motor
vehicle
injury challenge. Am J Dis Child 1985;139:1187-90.
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