Driver Compliance at Enhanced Pedestrian Crossings in Utah

2019Final, Dec. 2017 to Jan. 2019PDFTech ReportUT- 19.0318-8590ComplianceCrosswalksDriver performanceDriversFlashing beaconsPedestrian movementPedestrian safetyTraffic safetyDriver compliancepedestrianenhanced crosswalkenhancementHAWKRRFBOFBORRFBflashing beaconsUtahUnited StatesUtah. Dept. of TransportationFayyaz, KiavashSchultz, Grant G.Galvez de Leon, PabloResource System GroupUtah. Dept. of TransportationUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway AdministrationUS Transportation CollectionSince its creation, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has made safety its number one priority. Over a decade ago, UDOT began implementing technological enhancements to reduce the fatality rate of pedestrians involved in crashes. However, there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of these enhancements. This study evaluates the safety impacts of several pedestrian crossing enhancements through comparing the compliance rates of drivers as a surrogate safety measure. This report analyzes enhanced pedestrian crossings to determine the factors that affect the compliance rate among drivers and provides a statistical analysis to prove the factor\u2019s significance on compliance. The results show that High-Intensity Activated crossWalks (HAWK) have a higher impact on reducing the probability of a non-compliant event compared with an Overhead Flashing Beacon (OFB) and that the OFB has a higher impact on reducing the probability of a non-compliant event compared with Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) and Overhead Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (ORRFB). The results show adding a pedestrian enhancement to a marked crosswalk at location with 5 lanes and speed limit between 35 mph to 45 mph can increase compliance rate by 97 percent for HAWK, 77 percent for OFB, and 57 percent for RRFB and ORRFB. In addition, results show longer stopping sight distances and better walking scores increase the compliance rate.82