Study Details

Study Title: Designing for the Safety of Pedestrians, Cyclists, and Motorists in Urban Environments

Authors: Dumbaugh and Li

Publication Date:JAN, 2011

Abstract: Design solutions aimed at enhancing pedestrian safety are often considered incompatible with those intended to improve motorist safety. This assertion largely is based on the theoretical assertion that traffic crashes are the result of random driver error, and that designing roadways to be forgiving of these errors is the best way to enhance safety. However, crashes may instead be the product of systematic patterns of behavior associated with the characteristics of the built environment. This study investigates whether crash incidence in urban areas is the product of random error, or whether it is influenced by characteristics of the built environment. Negative binomial regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between several aspects of the built environment and the incidence of crashes involving motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists. Motorist crashes are subdivided into multiple-vehicle, fixed-object, and parked-car crashes to determine if these crash types had unique characteristics. Vehicle miles of travel (VMT) is used as a proxy for random error. Results show that factors associated with a vehicle crashing into a cyclist or pedestrian are largely the same as those resulting associated with a crash with another vehicle. The authors found VMT to be positively, but weakly, associated with crashes involving motorists and pedestrians. Stronger associations were found between crashes and characteristics of the built environment. Miles of arterial roadways and numbers of four-leg intersections, strip commercial uses, and big box stores were major crash risk factors. Pedestrian-scaled retail uses were associated with lower crash incidences. These findings suggest that design personnel should balance the inherent tension between vehicle speeds and traffic conflicts in order to enhance traffic safety for all users.

Study Citation: Dumbaugh, E., and Li, W., "Designing for the Safety of Pedestrians, Cyclists, and Motorists in Urban Environments." Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 77, No. 1, (2011) pp. 69-88.

Study Report: Download the Study Report Document


CMFs Associated With This Study

Category: Access management

Countermeasure: Change number of 3-leg intersections from X to Y

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsAngle,Cross median,Fixed object,Head on,Left turn,Non-intersection,Parking related,Rear end,Rear to rear,Right turn,Run off road,Sideswipe,Single vehicle,Truck relatedAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsAngle,Cross median,Head on,Left turn,Rear end,Rear to rear,Right turn,SideswipeAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsFixed objectAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsParking relatedAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsVehicle/pedestrianAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsVehicle/bicycleAllAllUrban

Countermeasure: Change number of 4-or-more-leg intersections from X to Y

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsAngle,Cross median,Fixed object,Head on,Left turn,Non-intersection,Parking related,Rear end,Rear to rear,Right turn,Run off road,Sideswipe,Single vehicle,Truck relatedAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsAngle,Cross median,Head on,Left turn,Rear end,Rear to rear,Right turn,SideswipeAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsFixed objectAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsParking relatedAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsVehicle/pedestrianAllAllUrban
CMF EquationCRF Equation3 StarsVehicle/bicycleAllAllUrban