A Methodology to Quantify Pedestrian Crash Rates against Statewide Averages for Roadways and Intersections

To date there are no clear or uniform standards for a method to measure pedestrian crash rates and compare it against a statewide average. In this paper, a novel methodology to measure pedestrian crash rates along roadways and intersections were quantified. The main objective is to identify critical pedestrian crash locations that are operating above its corresponding statewide average. It was crucial to address the pedestrian-vehicular conflict as the State of Florida currently tops the list in the “Dangerous by Design” report as having the highest four pedestrian incident locations in the Country. The main challenge was to identify a practical and correct exposure measure. In most cases, the exposure measure is either unavailable or can be obtained at a greater cost. The methods and procedures explained in this paper are considered detailed, practical and provide a broad depiction of the main factors that directly contribute to pedestrian crashes. The main parameters used in calculating pedestrian crash rates along roadways included functional classification, number of lanes, area type, AADT and the total length of the roadway category. Conversely, main parameters for computing pedestrian crash rates for intersections included daily pedestrian volumes, distance crossed and the AADT in addition to the number of pedestrian crashes either along the studied roadways or intersections. The pilot studies conducted for the roadways and intersections revealed several critical safety locations within District 5 when compared to the developed statewide average rates which required further investigation to identify main causes and emphasize mitigation improvements.