Effects of the new Swedish law at zebra crossings and vision zero countermeasures on traffic safety and mobility, especially for children and elderly : a case study in Malmoe, Sweden.

One of the bases of the Swedish Vision Zero is the traffic-calming principle in urban areas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the short-term effects on traffic behaviour and traffic safety of reconstructing urban intersections according to traffic-calming principles. The focus of the evaluation is on children and elderly. The Swedish law concerning car drivers giving way to pedestrians was strengthened on May 1, 2000. The aim is also to describe the effect on safety and mobility of the new Code. The field studies were made in the City of Malmoe in Sweden. Overall, in 1995-1999, there were on average seven pedestrians per year killed in Sweden at unsignalized zebra crossings. In 2001, that number was eight. The number of severely injured pedestrians (not including killed) at unsignalized intersections in 1995-1999 was 60 per year. In 2001, that number was 70. A comparison should consider that some crosswalks were eliminated in connection to the change of Code. Therefore, a reduction in the number of fatalities at crosswalks should be expected even if the Code change had no effect on risk. Also, like in Malmoe, there was reconstruction of locations to make them safer. This should also be expected to marginally reduce the total number of pedestrian crashes in Sweden. So the conclusion is that the effect of the change of Code in Sweden so far has not been very successful in terms of safety. The evaluation used in Malmoe, Sweden is based on studies of pedestrians', cyclists' and car drivers' behaviour and safety at three time periods; before change of Code and reconstruction, after change of Code but before reconstruction and finally after both change of Code and reconstruction. Places are video filmed from various angles to capture the different road-users' behavior. The effect of the change of Code is increased mobility at the marked zebra crossings, both for pedestrians and cyclists. In this study no changes in safety is shown due to change of Code. The reconstruction increased the mobility even more, and at least based on indirect measures, the safety for the pedestrians and cyclists did improve. A "safe" traffic behavior of pedestrians expressed as looking sideways increased somewhat at the reconstructed intersections, but stopping at the curb before crossing the street decreased. Children and elderly as pedestrians and cyclists did not benefit more than other age groups. (Author/publisher).