Statistical analysis of the occurrence and severity of crashes involving vulnerable road users

Abstract

Cities have been often organized in terms of planning with special attention to motor vehicles and not well prepared for pedestrians and cyclists. In order to privilege active modes, there is the need to ensure the safety of these vulnerable road users. The main objective of this paper is to implement a statistical analysis to assess the occurrence and severity of road crashes involving vulnerable road users. This research is focused on analyzing the trends and causes of road crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians and what are the main difficulties that people using active modes do face in their journeys. In order to reach this objective, a database of crashes registrations involving motor vehicles and vulnerable road users from Aveiro, Portugal, between 2012 and 2015 was created. This analysis intends to evaluate the evolution of the number of crashes and to create patterns of risk factors such as weather conditions, specific locations and singularities that might represent additional risk, profile of pedestrian or cyclist involved. Regarding the analyzed variables that characterize crashes participations, the dependent variables considered were: meteorological conditions, location, proximity to a pedestrians’ crosswalk and gender of the VRU. The probability of the vulnerable road user being a pedestrian increases by 2.7 times if the crash occurs on a urban street segment, 10.6 times if the crash occurs at a pedestrians’ crosswalk, and 3.5 times if the VRU is a female.