The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has made improved pedestrian safety a priority and seeks to achieve a 10% reduction in pedestrian fatalities by 2007. Research staff from the FHWA Office of Safety Research and Development at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center are investigating new ways to help reach this goal. Among the research topics under study is evaluation of countermeasures to improve safety in pedestrian crossings that are not controlled by traffic signals. This includes in-roadway warning lights in which each side of a crosswalk is lined with a series of amber lights embedded in the roadway that face oncoming traffic. The lights are visible to approaching drivers as a warning that a pedestrian is in or near the marked crosswalk. This article describes an FHWA study that examined pedestrian and driver behavior at crosswalks in Alexandria, Virginia, during daylight and dark conditions over the course of 1 year. Further evaluations will be conducted immediately before, immediately after, and 1 year after in-roadway warning lights are installed.
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