It is suggested that innovative and comprehensive approaches are needed to moderate excessive vehicle speeds to uniformly lower levels in environments where there is high pedestrian activity. An evaluation was undertaken in areas known to be hazardous to pedestrians utilising a quasi-experimental before-after comparison of speed profiles and vehicle travel times following the implementation of speed moderating treatments. Large reductions of 7.5 km/h in average vehicle speeds over the full length of the treatment survey site were found. These were associated with estimated reductions of 2-3 percent in fatal pedestrian crashes and of 15 percent in serious injury pedestrian crashes. Mean speeds at locations within the survey site also reduced by 1.3.km/h. These reductions were associated with expected reductions of 11 percent in fatal, 8 percent in serious injury , and 5 percent in casualty pedestrian crashes. Furthermore, a significant reduction in the proportion of vehicles travelling at or above given speeds was found, particularly as vehicles entered the shopping precinct. In summary, this evaluation demonstrated that small gains in speed reduction can lead to very valuable gains in road trauma for pedestrians in environments where there is high pedestrian activity. Innovative countermeasures, such as those evaluated here, provide a cost-effective approach to moderate vehicle speeds, resulting in general benefit to all road users, especially pedestrians. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting