Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Types of the Early 1990s
Source: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
"The purpose of this research was to apply the basic NHTSA pedestrian and bicyclist typologies to a sample of recent crashes and to refine and update the crash type distributions with particular attention to roadway and locational factors. Five thousand pedestrian-and 3,000 bicycle-motor vehicle crashes were coded in a population-based sample drawn from the States of California, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Utah. Nearly a third of the pedestrians were struck at or near (within 16 m (50 ft) of an intersection. Midblock events were the second major pedestrian crash type grouping, representing over a fourth (26 percent) of all crashes. The bicycle-motor vehicle crash types distributed as: (1) parallel paths: 36 percent, (2) crossing paths: 57 percent, and (3) specific circumstances: 6 percent. Most frequent parallel path crashes were motorist turn/merge into bicyclist's path (34.4 percent) of all parallel path crashes, motorist over-taking (24.2 percent), and bicyclist turn/merge into motorist's path (20.6 percent). Most frequent crossing path crashes were motorist failed to yield (37.7 percent of crossing path crashes), bicyclist failed to yield at an intersection (29.1 percent), and bicyclist failed to yield midblock (20.5 percent). Future safety considerations should be systemwide and include an examination of intersections and other junctions, well designed facilities, and increased awareness of pedestrians and bicyclists by motor vehicle drivers."
