PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE CRASH PLOTTING AND COUNTS AND BEHAVIORS OBSERVATIONS
Field observations of bicyclist and pedestrian behaviors revealed the following key findings:• 84 percent of bicyclists rode on the sidewalk and 16 percent rode in the street.
• 58 percent of bicyclists rode with traffic and 42 percent rode against traffic.
• 79 percent of pedestrians crossed midblock and 21 percent crossed at an intersection.
• 57 percent of pedestrians did not crossed in a gap and 43 percent crossed in a gap.
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Pedestrians, particularly when crossing multilane roadways, will often begin their street crossings when there is traffic in the roadway in front of them. For instance, on a three lane crossing, there may be a car in the middle or far lane when the pedestrian begins crossing. Additionally, a car may be in the near lane so close that it will pass behind the pedestrian prior to the pedestrian completing the roadway crossing. Judging these holes in traffic is a complex psychological task and the potential for error is significant. As long as all the drivers behave as the pedestrian expects, these crossings may be made without incident. However, if conditions change, for example, if a car passes another car (Figure 12), the hole the pedestrian was expecting is gone and a crash is likely to ensue. Alternatively, if a car is traveling faster (or slower) than expected (a judgment call which is further complicated during darkness), dangerous conflicts or a crash can occur.
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When all five study streets are combined, 83.5% of bicyclists rode on the sidewalk, and 69.0% of bicyclist-motorist crashes involved a bicyclist riding on the sidewalk (or crossing a side street in the side street’s crosswalk).
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When all five study streets are combined, 42.1% of bicyclists rode against traffic, and 64.3% of bicyclist-motorist crashes involved a bicyclist riding against traffic.
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When all five study streets are combined, 78.6 percent of pedestrians crossed midblock, and 89.1 percent of pedestrian-motorist crashes involved a pedestrian who was crossing midblock.
<a href="http://www.metroplanorlando.com/site/upload/documents/ped_and_bike_risks_and_countermeasures.pdf">http://www.metroplanorlando.com/site/upload/documents/ped_and_bike_risks_and_countermeasures.pdf</a>;
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