European Crossing Laws

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A few months ago I posted about my experience walking in Munich, and my amazement at how drivers always stop for pedestrians waiting to cross the street. Turns out there's a strong legal incentive for that behavior in Germany, as well as in many other countries throughout Europe. With thanks to the folks on the America Walks listserve, here is a brief description of how pedestrian crossing laws in several European countries:

Germany
"At pedestrian crossings, vehicles other than railway vehicles must allow pedestrians and wheelchair users who visibly want to cross to use the crossing."(Highway Code 26) 

Holland
"Motor vehicle operators must yield to pedestrians and wheelchair users who are crossing at a zebra crossing or who appear to be about to do so."(Article 49, paragraph 2 of the Traffic Rules (RVV))

France
"Every motorist is obligated to yield, stopping if necessary, to a pedestrian regularly engaged in crossing a street or clearly manifesting the intention to do so ...." (This language was added in 2010, part of decree 2010-1390, Article 17)

This week on foot

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This week we open with an important question: Can This Creepy Graphic Keep Drivers From Killing Pedestrians?

Speaking of creepy, did you know that in India Fergusson College road is 'dread zone' for pedestrians ? Or that Pedestrians risk lives on Nigdi to Dapodi ? Scary stuff, though probably not as scary as this 'Lucky escape' after pedestrian trapped under car

On a less terrifying note, in Ottawa a Series of projects aim to improve pedestrian safety ...but elsewhere in the country Pedestrian power has yet to exert itself at Vancouver City Hall.

Pedestrians are showing their power in other places though, like in Alaska where Fairbanks transportation planners seek input from pedestrians, bicyclists . Or in Maryland where a Maryland woman sentenced for fatally striking pedestrian. 

Meanwhile, officials offer up this important Health Tip: Remind Children and Teens of Pedestrian Safety. And do you know what else is healthy? Eating. So lucky for all of us that in New York there's Food Coming to Chelsea Plaza . While you're there you can expand your mind (as well as your belly) by checking out the City Fix's latest Research Recap, May 16: Walkable Streets, Urban Development Technologies, Car-to-Car Communications.

Enjoy!

Big Parade This Weekend

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Angelenos, it's time again for the Big Parade! For those of you unfamiliar with the event, the Big Parade is a two-day community walk founded by stairway enthusiastic Dan Koeppel. This year's route takes walkers through Los Angeles, beginning downtown at the Angel's Flight Stairway and ending at the Hollywood Sign above Beachwood Canyon. (Day one ends/Day two begins at the Music Box Stairs in Silverlake.)

There will also be a prologue walk on Friday, May 20, led by Bob Inman, covering the stairways between Eagle Rock and downtown.

Get a detailed schedule, with routes, timetables, and info about movie night on the website.
 

Photo courtesy the appropriately-named Alyssa Walker

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge

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I'd like to encourage all the bikers out there to join Clif Bar's second annual 2 Mile Challenge. Participants join an organization's "team" and log their bike miles, earning points for their team. At the end of the competition in October, the organizations earn grants based on their team members' mileage. Even though the challenge part of this event focuses on biking, two of the beneficiaries (the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership) work on pedestrian issues as well--so if you're a pedaler as well as a ped, pick your favorite advocacy organization and start riding.

Pedestrian Research Rundown

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Hmm, perhaps that wasn't the best choice of titles for a pedestrian blog. At any rate, here's a summary of some of the latest in pedestrian research, for the academically (or not-so-academically) inclined:

Cost-Driven Injury Prevention: Creating an Innovative Plan to Save Lives With Limited Resources
Pedestrian injury costs $20 billion annually. Countermeasures such as blinking crosswalks can be expensive, but expectedly vital to injury prevention efforts. In this study, the researchers aimed to create a new framework of cost-driven surveillance using a detailed analysis of hospital costs and their relationship to location of pedestrian injury. Targeting identified “high cost areas” with effective countermeasures could save lives and be most cost-effective.

The researchers conducted an analysis of billing records of 694 auto versus pedestrian victims treated in San Francisco in 2004. Ninety percent of victims resided in San Francisco, and of 11 city districts, three districts accounted for almost 50% of the total cost.The total cost of injury was $9.8 million, 76 percent of which was publicly funded. Thirty-one percent of victims were admitted, and cost of their care accounted for 76% of the total cost.

Conclusions: These findings provide a roadmap to target costly hot spots for preventive countermeasures. In a climate of limited resources, this kind of roadmap highlights the areas that could most benefit from countermeasures from both an injury prevention and cost-containment standpoint. Cost-driven surveillance is useful in city strategic planning for cost-effective and life-saving pedestrian injury prevention.

Evaluation of Lane Reduction "Road Diet" Measures on Crashes
While potential crash-related benefits are cited by road diet advocates, there has been limited research concerning such benefits. This brief from the the FHWA summarizes a recent reanalysis of studies in Washington, California, and Iowa to compile crash data and gain a better understanding of the impact that road diets can have on crash rates.