Pedestrian-Vehicular Crashes: The Influence of Personal and Environmental Factors

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between land use and pedestrian-vehicle crashes. Analysis focuses on how the pedestrian crashes vary by personal characteristics (age, sex, condition, and severity of injury) and physical characteristics of the crash area (location type, population density, land use, pedestrian activity, and demand). The data for this study are pedestrian- vehicle crashes in Baltimore City, MD occurring between 2000 and 2002, supplied by the State of Maryland Motor Vehicle Accident Report. The results from the analysis suggest that in general, there are significant effects of land use on pedestrian crashes and, more importantly, pedestrian exposure. When controlling for demand, urban downtown areas with high population and roadway densities and good commercial accessibility are found to have negative relationships to pedestrian exposure. The results may justify the promoting of denser urban neighborhood designs and advocate the need to guide safety policy investments to these urban areas with high pedestrian activity.