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Abstract for presentation (Poster or Podium) with a Paper in the Conference Proceedings

Transportation Safety

EFFECT OF PEDESTRIAN PRESENCE ON DRIVER SPEEDS APPROACHING ROUNDABOUTS

Sunday, June 16, 2024

1:15 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Room: Galleria

Primary Author(s)

Abstract:

Understanding how drivers behave at roundabouts regarding pedestrians is paramount to understanding

the safety effectiveness of installing roundabouts over traditional intersections. Past literature has studied

the effect of pedestrians on gap behavior and yielding behavior but there has been little to no research on

the speeds of drivers. This study was undertaken to identify the effect of pedestrian presence on driver

speeds when approaching roundabouts. A plethora of multiple linear regression models was estimated to

identify if and where the presence of a pedestrian was most pronounced on the approach to a roundabout.

The results display that the presence of a pedestrian has a significant effect on vehicle speeds as drivers

approach the crosswalk. When a pedestrian was present, speeds at the crosswalk dropped by 2.3 mph.

Furthermore, 50 feet upstream of the crosswalk (100 feet upstream of the yield line) saw speeds drop by

6.85 mph. The results indicate that when drivers react to a pedestrian being present, they reduce their

speed as they approach the crosswalk and continue at a reduced speed through the crosswalk.

Keywords: Pedestrians, roundabouts, speeds

Attendees can expect to learn the following from this session:

understand the how drivers behave at roundabouts when pedestrians are present.
determine where improvements can be made and what areas can be further researched to promote pedestrians safety at roundabouts.
identify key areas where pedestrians are most at risk for collisions with drivers.