Visually Impaired Pedestrian Safety at Roundabout Crossings

PDFTech ReportPedestrian safetyCrosswalksRoundaboutsBlind personsVisually impaired personsRoundabout CrossingsUnited StatesSafety Research Using Simulation (SAFER-SIM) University Transportation CenterChristofa, EleniGanz, AuraKnodler, Michael A.Wolfgram, JoshuaFournier, NicholasUniversity of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUniversity of Massachusetts at AmherstSafety Research Using Simulation (SAFER-SIM) University Transportation CenterUS Transportation CollectionPedestrians are some of the most vulnerable road users. This becomes more apparentat intersections, where pedestrians are unprotected and interacting with vehicles. Whilepedestrian phases that are commonplace at most signalized intersections facilitate theirsafe movement through intersections, roundabouts by nature provide little protection topedestrians, who must judge safe gaps in traffic before crossing. This presents problemsfor visually impaired users, who must rely on auditory cues. The constant movement oftraffic from many directions can be confusing to visually impaired pedestrians. Theobjective of this project is to develop a new pedestrian-activated sign that can alertdrivers of the presence of pedestrians at roundabout crosswalks, in an effort to increasedriver yielding behavior. A thorough literature review was performed, which investigatedroadway treatments at roundabouts that improve visually impaired pedestrian safety.Given the limitations of existing studies that often put the burden of responsibility on the pedestrian, a novel pedestrian-activated yield sign was designed and an experimentaldesign was developed for testing the effectiveness of this sign through driving simulationin combination with participant questionnaires. The goal is to determine whether driverswill intuit the meaning of the new roundabout signage after repeated exposure.Anticipated results should confirm the initial hypothesis that drivers will observe the new sign and respond by yielding to pedestrians. With multiple encounters of the newsignage, an increase in yielding rates is expected compared to yielding rates associatedwith conventional yield signs at roundabout crossings. This study can help inform design, education, and other countermeasures for safer roundabout operations for all users