1 / 29

Pedestrian Safety Enforcement: The Maryland Experience

Pedestrian Safety Enforcement: The Maryland Experience. Pro Walk/Pro Bike September 8, 2004. George Branyan Pedestrian & Special Programs Coordinator SHA-MHSO. Maryland Pedestrian Crash Data (5-year average, 1999-2003). 109 fatalities (119 in 2003) 17% of total traffic fatalities

niabi
Download Presentation

Pedestrian Safety Enforcement: The Maryland Experience

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Pedestrian Safety Enforcement:The Maryland Experience Pro Walk/Pro Bike September 8, 2004 George Branyan Pedestrian & Special Programs Coordinator SHA-MHSO

  2. Maryland Pedestrian Crash Data (5-year average, 1999-2003) • 109 fatalities (119 in 2003) • 17% of total traffic fatalities • MD ranks 13th for fatalities in the US (per population) • 2887 injuries • 84% of all crashes and 73% of fatal crashes occur in the 5 most populous jurisdictions • 6% of crashes involve the elderly, but they account for 16% of all fatal crashes

  3. Maryland Pedestrian Crash Data (5-year average, 1999-2003) • 53% of all crashes and 70% of fatal crashes occur from 4 pm to 4 am • 28% of fatalities involve alcohol on the part of the pedestrian and 8% on the part of the driver, but… • 57% of fatalities occur on US/State Roads • 55% of all crashes and 72% of fatalities occur not in a crosswalk • 39% of all crashes and 54% of fatalities occur not at an intersection

  4. At Fault Pedestrian, Cyclist, and Driver Crash Data

  5. Real-World Pedestrian Problems • Pedestrians cross where they cross for a REASON • Pedestrians often cross mid-block because intersections seem threatening

  6. Challenging Suburban Environments Many suburban roads in the state have high pedestrian volumes, high vehicle speeds, and long distances between signalized intersections. MD 193 between MD 650 & MD 212 MD 650 at Langley Park

  7. What Works in Pedestrian Safety Enforcement? • The Crosswalk must have meaning for both drivers and pedestrians. • Target the DRIVER as well as the pedestrian. • Seattle PD gave 500,000 jaywalking tickets and found few safety gains, but dramatic public resentment. • Success achieved when strategy changed to focus on driver as well as pedestrian behavior and roadway/crosswalk design.

  8. Pedestrian Enforcement Issues 1990 NHTSA report on pedestrian enforcement found many reasons given by police for not enforcing pedestrian safety laws: • Peer Pressure – “Ped violations aren’t real crimes, it’s not real police work.” • Social Pressure – Questions from the public, “Why aren’t you out catching robbers and murderers?” • Police Administration – “My Chief (Lt. , Sgt., etc.) doesn’t want me to do it.” • Courts – “My calendar is crammed and you bring me this petty matter?” • Fines – Fines may be too high or too low. May require a “must appear.”

  9. Importance of the third “E” Enforcement The Need for Police Enforcement: • Un-enforced laws will be ignored • Enforcement gives credibility to engineering and education interventions • Increases driver awareness • Increases compliance and saves lives • Enhances “walkability” of communities

  10. Impact of Crosswalk Enforcement • Washington State conducted a before-during-after multiple comparison study of targeted crosswalk enforcement (2003).

  11. Maryland Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Initiative • Multi-Jurisdictional: Overtime highway safety grant funds in 10 jurisdictions ($200,000) • Created in 2002 • Training workshops and recognition events • Educational materials, law card, warning tickets • Encourage publicity about enforcement – it’s the best education • Balanced enforcement Dan Burden & John Moffat

  12. Enforcement Resources • Enforcement Program Manual • How to set up crosswalk and intersection enforcement • How to effectively enforce laws on pedestrians • Resources & training materials • Contact the “experts” section

  13. Enforcement Resources • Driver/Ped Warning Ticket • Crosswalk Law Card

  14. Pedestrian Enforcement Training, 2002 & 2004 Annapolis College Park

  15. Greenbelt City MD Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Initiative Baltimore City

  16. MD Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Initiative Pedestrian refuge island & mid-block crosswalk constructed by MD State Highway Administration Baltimore County

  17. Educating Pedestrians • Education of pedestrians with selective, highly publicized education/enforcement. C-SAFE Initiative – International Corridor, suburban Washington

  18. MD Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Program Results, 2004 13 police departments participating Over 40 crosswalk enforcement events Nearly 750 citations and 536 warnings given to drivers at crosswalk enforcement events 258 warnings and 748 educational brochures given to pedestrians Over 2000 speeding citations 19 arrests, including 7 unlicensed drivers, 1 stolen car, 1 DUI arrest

  19. MD Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Initiative • Publicity about enforcement Montgomery County

  20. MD Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Initiative • Publicity about enforcement

  21. Enforcement-related Education Efforts STREET SMART Pedestrian Safety Media Campaign • Conducted since 2002 • Washington and Baltimore metro areas • Funded by highway safety grant funds (DC, MD, VA) • Targets pedestrians & drivers • English and Spanish • 4 week campaigns • Survey evaluation

  22. Enforcement-related Education Efforts Targeting Pedestrians Interior Bus Card Transit shelter Poster Tip Card

  23. Enforcement-related Education Efforts Targeting Drivers Radio PSA Bus Backs Tip Card

  24. Enforcement-related Education Efforts

  25. Awareness of Enforcement, 2002 • Comparison of pre and post measurement indicates that unaided awareness of police efforts to crack down on drivers who do not yield to pedestrians increased 4 percentage points.

  26. Awareness of Enforcement, 2004 • 2004 Baltimore campaign did not generate an increase in unaided awareness of police efforts to crack down on drivers who do not yield to pedestrians but it was higher than in DC.

  27. Conclusions-Recommendations • Get your state highway safety office to create a pedestrian safety enforcement program! • Enlist partners that can help increase publicity about enforcement, e.g. county gov’ts, police PIOs, sympathetic reporters, etc. • Good training is important • Recognition is a must with cops! • Enlist partners that can help with media campaigns, such as MPOs. • Remove statutory obstacles & educate the judiciary

  28. Pedestrian Enforcement Training Resources • Walkable Communities, Inc. (www.walkable.org) • John Moffat, former director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. (johnmoffat@aol.com) • Dan Burden, nationally recognized expert in pedestrian access and safety. (DBurden@aol.com) • Center for Education & Research in Safety (www.cers-safety.com) • Ron Van Houten, Ph.D • J. E. Louis Malenfant, Ph.D

  29. George Branyan Pedestrian and Special Programs Coordinator Maryland Highway Safety Office 410 582-5578 gbranyan@sha.state.md.us Please contact me for more information

More Related