High-Visibility Enforcement on Driver Compliance with Pedestrian Right-of-Way Laws

NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Researchhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15258272013PDFTech ReportVan Houten, RonMalenfant, J.E. LouisBlomberg, Richard D.Huitema, Bradley E.Casella, SarahWestern Michigan University. Dept. of PsychologyUnited States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Office of Behavioral Safety ResearchUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Office of Behavioral Safety ResearchUnited StatesYieldingPedestrian safetyCrosswalksTraffic law enforcementPedestrian sting operationsPedestrian right-ofwayenforcementHigh-visibility enforcementCrosswalk safetyWarning programMultifacetedpedestrian right-of-way enforcementCommunityfeedbackResearch HubDOT HS 811 786DTNH22-06-D-00036This study developed and evaluated strategies to increase driver yielding to pedestrians on a citywide basis using high-visibility pedestrian right-of-way enforcement. After a site recruitment process, Gainesville, Florida, participated in the project. The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) took the lead for the city and became a full partner in project development and research. Six pedestrian sites received enforcement and 6 more sites that did not receive enforcement were comparison sites to test for generalization effects. The program evaluation consisted of weekly measurement of driver yielding behavior at treated and comparison sites and crash analyses. The GPD conducted high-visibility crosswalk operations using decoy pedestrian crossings, inexpensive engineering (advance yield markings, in-street STATE LAW YIELD TO PEDESTRIAN signs), education (earned media, outreach efforts to elements within the community), and road signs that provided feedback on the percentage of drivers yielding right-of-way to pedestrians during the preceding week.The introduction of high-visibility enforcement over the course of a year led to a marked increase in yielding to pedestrians from a baseline level of 32% to 62% at enforcement crosswalk sites for staged crossings, and an increase from 54% to 83% for regular crosswalk users (unstaged crossings). At comparison crosswalk sites, yielding to pedestrians increased from 37% to 59% for staged crossings and from 50% to 73% for regular crosswalk users. A time-series regression model showed that all treatment sites (with the exception of one site with very high yield rates at the beginning of the study) showed a significant increase in yielding behavior. At the generalization sites, the change was approximately half that produced at the enforcement sites. A comparison of staged and unstaged pedestrian crossing results showed that, after adjustments for the difference in baseline levels, there was no difference in drivers who responded to a staged versus unstaged procedure.129