title: Stop versus yield on pedestrian-involved fatal crashes in the United States.
abstract: In an effort to improve pedestrian safety, several states in the United States changed their pedestrian laws by changing the requirement that drivers yield to pedestrians in crosswalks to a requirement that drivers stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. This study examined whether this change had an effect on pedestrian safety in the United States, with its focus on low-speed roads. To examine the association between changes in pedestrian laws and changes in pedestrian-involved fatal crashes, three approaches were employed: before-after analysis, time-series analysis, and cross-sectional analysis. Pedestrian-involved fatal traffic crashes on low-speed roads were extracted from the U.S. national fatal crash database, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), from 1980 through 2005. This study found no statistically significant reduction in pedestrian-involved fatal crashes attributable to changes in the laws, yet this finding is not definitive because of study limitations such as the omission of relevant exposure data.
authors: Virginia Transportation Research Council, Charlottesville, VA 22903, United States. Young-Jun.Kweon@VDOT.Virginia.gov
authors: Young-Jun
authors: YJ
authors: Kweon
authors: S Emily
authors: SE
authors: Hartman
authors: Cheryl W
authors: CW
authors: Lynn
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001336:Automobiles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D008396:Maryland; D008910:Minnesota; D009329:Nebraska; D009922:Oregon; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D014861:Washington