Investigation of the Effects of Leading Pedestrian Intervals and Protected Vehicular Left-turn Phasing on Pedestrian Safety

Abstract

Vehicle-pedestrian collisions at signalized intersections often occur when vehicles are performing a turning movement while pedestrians are at the crosswalk. There is a need to minimize these types of collisions, given their severity and prevalence. The main objective of this study is to address this need by investigating factors and treatments (such as leading pedestrian intervals and fully protected vehicular left-turns) that may impact vehicle-pedestrian conflicts (i.e., near misses) and/or collisions at signalized intersections. Collisions, simulated conflicts, and video-derived conflicts were used as measures of safety in the investigation. The results indicate, for example, that leading pedestrian intervals currently installed in Toronto have reduced pedestrian collisions by 49.3% to 82.7%, while fully protected vehicular left-turns were associated with reducing leftturning vehicle-pedestrian conflicts by 88.7%.