The impact of road and site characteristics on the crash-injury severity of pedestrian crashes

Pedestrians are considered vulnerable road users largely due to their lack of protection. In a collision with a vehicle, pedestrians are always the weakest party and are at a greater risk of injury or death compared with most other road users. In the emirate of Abu Dhabi (AD) UAE, over a period of six years pedestrian crashes represent about 21% of total traffic crashes, which lead to 18% of total severe injuries and 26% of total fatalities. Over the years, several studies have attempted to investigate the external factors that may affect the severity of injuries and fatalities of pedestrians involved in motor vehicle crashes. The majority of these studies have focused on the impact-speed of vehicles and the pedestrian characteristics as main factors. However, relatively few studies have investigated the impact of road and site characteristics on the crash-injury severity of pedestrians while crossing roads. This paper aims to investigate the impact of some external factors such as road and site characteristics on the severity of injuries and fatalities of pedestrian who were involved in vehicle collisions while they were trying to cross roads. The studied road factors are the speed limit, road width (in terms of number of lanes), and road type. In addition, the studied site factors are the crash location, the presence of crosswalk facility, and the surrounding land use type. For this study, the employed data was extracted from AD traffic police database for the last six years (from 2007 to 2012). The medical report of pedestrian crashes classifies the severity into four levels: slight injury, medium injury, severe injury, and fatality. In general, the study shows that there is a significant impact of the studied road and site factors on the crash-injury severity level of pedestrians involved in vehicle collisions. Further it also shows that there is a strong relationship between crash-injury severity level of pedestrians and both the speed limit and road width.