THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH WAS TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF THE SPECIAL CROSSWALK ILLUMINATION AND SIGNING SYSTEM PRESENTLY WARRANTED FOR USE IN ISRAEL. THE STUDY WAS OF THE BEFORE AND AFTER TYPE AND TREATED THE FIXTURE AS AN ENTIRETY, WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF THE SIGN AND OF THE ILLUMINATION PROVIDED ON THE CROSSWALK. NINETY NINE INSTALLATIONS WERE STUDIED WHERE NO OTHER ENGINEERING CHANGES HAD BEEN MADE IN THE "AFTER" PERIOD. IT WAS FOUND THAT A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN PEDESTRIAN NIGHT ACCIDENTS WAS ACHIEVED WHERE THE INSTALLATIONS WERE MADE, WHILE THE REDUCTION IN DAY ACCIDENTS WAS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. IN ADDITION TO THE ANALYSIS OF NIGHT AND DAY ACCIDENT CHANGES AT SITES WHERE THE SYSTEM WAS INSTALLED, COMPARISON WAS MADE BETWEEN A NUMBER OF THESE SITES AND A GROUP OF UNLIT "CONTROL CROSSWALKS", EACH OF WHICH EITHER ADJOINED THE LIT CROSSWALK AT THE SAME INTERSECTION OR WAS NEARBY ON THE SAME STREET. ACCIDENTS AT THESE CONTROL CROSSWALKS DID NOT SHOW A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE OVER THE PERIOD STUDIED. ADDITIONAL FACTORS WHICH WERE INVESTIGATED, SUCH AS PEDESTRIAN AND VEHICLE FLOW, WEATHER AND NATIONAL TREND OF PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS, ALL SUPPORTED THE CONCLUSION THAT IT WAS THE INSTALLATION OF THE SIGN AND LIGHTING SYSTEM WHICH BROUGHT ABOUT THE OBSERVED REDUCTION IN ACCIDENTS. IT WAS FURTHER FOUND THAT THE SYSTEM REPRESENTS A HIGHLY WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT IN TERMS OF COSTS AND ACCIDENT REDUCTION BENEFITS.(Author/publisher).
Samenvatting