Analyzing pedestrian crash injury severity at signalized and non-signalized locations

This study identifies and compares the significant factors affecting pedestrian crash injury severity at signalized and unsignalized intersections. The factors explored include geometric predictors (e.g., presence and type of crosswalk and presence of pedestrian refuge area), traffic predictors (e.g., annual average daily traffic (AADT), speed limit, and percentage of trucks), road user variables (e.g., pedestrian age and pedestrian maneuver before crash), environmental predictors (e.g., weather and lighting conditions), and vehicle‐related predictors (e.g., vehicle type). The analysis was conducted using the mixed logit model, which allows the parameter estimates to randomly vary across the observations. The study used three years of pedestrian crash data from Florida. Police reports were reviewed in detail to have a better understanding of how each pedestrian crash occurred. Additionally, information that is unavailable in the crash records, such as at‐fault road user and pedestrian maneuver, was collected. At signalized intersections, higher AADT, speed limit, and percentage of trucks; very old pedestrians; at‐fault pedestrians; rainy weather; and dark lighting condition were associated with higher pedestrian severity risk. For example, a one‐percent higher truck percentage increases the probability of severe injuries by 1.37%. A one‐mile‐per‐hour higher speed limit increases the probability of severe injuries by 1.22%. At unsignalized intersections, pedestrian walking along roadway, middle and very old pedestrians, at‐fault pedestrians, vans, dark lighting condition, and higher speed limit were associated with higher pedestrian severity risk. On the other hand, standard crosswalks were associated with 1.36% reduction in pedestrian severe injuries. Several countermeasures to reduce pedestrian injury severity are recommended.