Pedestrian safety at junctions

Abstract

In 1976, the sharing of green time between drivers and pedestrians system was implemented. It works such that while it is green light for drivers, the pedestrian crossing parallel to that approach is also showing green man for pedestrians to cross. Drivers can make use traffic gaps to make a turn but they must give way to the pedestrian crossing. This system has been in place and generally well-observed and safe since 1976. However, the increases in pedestrian accidents at junctions have raised concerns of the issue of safety with regards to the system. Analysis of traffic accident data provided by Singapore’s Traffic Police showed that right turn accidents occur more frequently than other movements. Alternative signal phasing types; do nothing, standard and scramble, were looked into to find a suitable replacement to the current system. After comparison, the standard phasing seemed to remain the better choice. Further analysis into the reasons of accidents showed that most accidents happened due to driver negligence and pedestrians not obeying traffic rules. Hence, the results do not reflect that the system is as dangerous as people perceive it to be. However, improvements can be made to pedestrian safety at junctions. Therefore, some mitigating measures to reduce the chances of driver negligence and improve pedestrians’ road safety habits were suggested. In conclusion, from the analysis of the results, the current system is not shown to be as dangerous as people perceive it to be. With good road safety education and if every road user play his/her part by practising good road safety habits, there can be improvements in pedestrian safety at junctions.