Spatial environmental risk factors for pedestrian injury collisions in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico (2008-2009): implications for urban planning

Risk exposure factors influencing the frequency of road crashes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. A negative binomial spatial regression model

The article aims to investigate the influence of risk exposure factors on the frequency of road crashes from January to August 2020 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. It is a longitudinal study with four data sets: road crashes, population and housing census, location of economic activities, and road network information. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship between exposure factors - demographics, main roads and land use - and road crashes. A mixed method analysis was employed, (1) spatial analysis using GIS techniques; and (2) a negative binomial spatial regression model. The results showed a strong spatial dependence (0.274; p-value 0.00) of road crashes in the census tracts, and this effect was statistically significant (0.007) in the spatial regression model. In the model, a high probability (<0.05) of road crashes in the census tracts was found with the population aged 15 to 65 years, the length of main roads and the level of road coverage (Engel index), land uses with economic activities of an industrial and commercial character. The findings of this study successfully capture the social, economic, and urban conditions during the January-August 2020 period in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This new knowledge could help create preventive plans and policies to address the frequency of road crashes.

A Geographical and Temporal Risk Evaluation Method for Red-Light Violations by Pedestrians at Signalized Intersections: Analysis and Results of Suzhou, China

Red-light violations of pedestrians crossing at signal intersections is one of the key factors in pedestrian traffic accidents. Even though there are various studies on pedestrian behavior and pedestrian traffic conflicts, few focus on the risk of different crosswalks for the violating pedestrian group. Due to the spatio-temporal nature of violation risk, this study proposes a geographical and temporal risk evaluation method for pedestrian red-light violations, which combines actual survey and video acquisition. First, in the geographical-based risk evaluation, the pedestrian violation rate at signal intersections is investigated by Pearson correlation analysis to extract the significant influencing factors from traffic conditions, built environment, and crosswalk facilities. Second, in the temporal-based risk evaluation, the survival analysis method is developed to quantify the risk of pedestrian violation in different scenarios as time passes by. Finally, this study selects 16 typical signalized intersections in Suzhou, China, with 881 pedestrian crosswalk violations from a total size of 4586 pedestrians as survey cases. Results indicate that crossing distance, traffic volume on the crosswalk, red-light time, and crosswalk-type variables all contribute to the effect of pedestrian violation from a geographical perspective, and the installation of waiting refuge islands has the most significant impact. From the temporal perspective, the increases in red-light time, number of lanes, and traffic volume have a mitigating effect on the violations with pedestrian waiting time increases. This study aims to provide a development-oriented path by proposing an analytical framework that reconsiders geographical and temporal risk factors of violation. The findings could help transport planners understand the effect of pedestrian violation-related traffic risk and develop operational measures and crosswalk design schemes for controlling pedestrian violations occurring in local communities.

Traffic crashes in Dhaka, Bangladesh: analysing crashes involving unconventional modes, pedestrians and public transit

Road safety is a global concern; particularly, in developing countries due to the significantly high collision occurrences and subsequent deaths. This study presents a spatial and temporal analysis of collision frequency and injury severity of crashes in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The focus is to understand the spatio-temporal trend of collisions involving pedestrians, public transit and unconventional modes, which are the key collision factors in Dhaka. This research utilizes the police-reported collision record for Dhaka for the years 2011-2015. In temporal analysis, temporal trends (monthly, daily and hourly) of injury severity of different vehicle occupants (pedestrians, public transit and unconventional modes) have been explored using descriptive analytics. Daily distribution suggests that a higher share of severe injuries involving pedestrians (16.6%) and unconventional modes (20.5%) occur on Fridays and Thursdays, respectively. The hourly distribution suggests that pedestrians are more vulnerable from 11:00am to 12:00pm on weekends. Unconventional mode users are vulnerable from 7:00am to 8:00am on weekdays. Spatial analysis is performed adopting a Kernel density estimation (KDE) technique. The results suggest that the major activity locations of Dhaka such as central business district (CBD), airport and ferry terminals are collision prone areas. Interestingly, the density of public transit collisions is skewed around the major transit hubs of the city.

Identify the key characteristics of pedestrian collisions through in-depth interviews: a pilot study

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of recruiting injured pedestrians from the emergency department of a major trauma centre, using an in-depth interview shortly post collision. Convenience sampling was used to prospectively recruit injured pedestrians from the Alfred Hospital Emergency and Trauma Centre. Of the 102 injured pedestrians, 39 met eligibility criteria and of these, 30 (77%) consented and completed the questionnaire. Over half of the collisions occurred at an intersection (57%), and of these the most common pre-impact vehicle manoeuvre was a vehicle turning into the street the pedestrian was crossing. In-depth interview during the early post-crash period was a feasible and effective method of collecting detailed data in an accessible sample. However, only 38% of patients met eligibility criteria. To enhance representativeness, supplementing interview data with police-reported crash data, recruiting from hospital wards and crash location assessment is recommended.

Crash risk, crash exposure, and the built environment: A conceptual review

This paper reviews the literature on the relationship between the built environment and roadway safety, with a focus on studies that analyse small geographical units, such as census tracts or travel analysis zones. We review different types of built environment measures to analyse if there are consistent relationships between such measures and crash frequency, finding that for many built environment variables there are mixed or contradictory correlations. We turn to the treatment of exposure, because built environment measures are often used, either explicitly or implicitly, as measures of exposure. We find that because exposure is often not adequately controlled for, correlations between built environment features and crash rates could be due to either higher levels of exposure or higher rates of crash risk per unit of exposure. Then, we identify various built environment variables as either more related to exposure, more related to risk, or ambiguous, and recommend further targeted research on those variables whose relationship is currently ambiguous.

Geospatial and environmental analysis of road traffic accidents in the city of Resistencia, Argentina

Traffic accidents are an emerging problem in cities with high mobility and little urban planning. Evidence is lacking in Argentina regarding the relationship between the environment and accident occurrence; we therefore conducted a geospatial analysis and estimated the risk of accidents and their possible association with the characteristics of the physical environment in the city of Resistencia, Argentina occurring in 2012. Kernel density estimates were used for the spatial distribution of accidents and in parallel an observational, analytical study was carried out to analyze the factors associated with accident occurrence. The results show three critical areas (in the northwest, center and south of the city) with greater accident frequency. Environmental factors that were associated with the occurrence of accidents were the presence of street lighting (23% greater), the presence of a tree close to the road (47% greater), the presence of a traffic light (28% greater), and if the road was a major avenue (122% greater) and had curves (129% greater). This study shows the city of Resistencia to be in a situation of urban vulnerability due not only to its socioeconomic status but also to the unequal development compared to neighboring cities, a reality that fosters an unfavorable environment.