Safety evaluation of pedestrian behaviour and violations at signalised pedestrian crossings

Pedestrians being the most vulnerable road users, take up about one in every four road deaths in Singapore. Of all pedestrian fatal accidents, 22% occurred at signalised pedestrian crossings though they are time-separated designated facility for pedestrians to cross the road. As such, it is important to examine crossing behaviour of pedestrians at these locations to further enhance their safety. Violators, in particular, have higher risks of encountering traffic conflicts or accidents. Violating behaviour of pedestrians is studied and a relationship is established with dependent variables such as waiting time, the number of conflicting traffic lanes, conflicting vehicular traffic volume and personal characteristics of the pedestrian. The outputs obtained from the study can be used for predicting violations, identifying countermeasures and establishing realistic micro-simulation modelling to further enhance safety at these crossings. Recommendations on enhancing design for pedestrian crossings shall be made where possible.