![\"A](\"https:\/\/specials-images.forbesimg.com\/imageserve\/687d0e63242c1f78138c445b\/A-photo-aerial-shot-of-a-major-intersection-\/960x0.jpg?fit=scale\")
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A 7-second delay for drivers resulted in a 33 % reduction in total pedestrian injuries \u2013 both fatal … More and non-fatal \u2014 at New York City intersections, a new study found.<\/p>\n
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health<\/p>\n
Giving pedestrians a 7-second head start at traffic lights can reduce injuries and deaths by a third. The traffic safety intervention can mean the difference between life and death for walkers, and is one of the most affordable and do-able measures to implement that could be adopted more widely.<\/p>\n
Those are the main findings<\/a> of a new study<\/a> announced on Friday by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health<\/a>, published in \u201cNature Cities<\/a>,\u201d that found that a 7-second delay for drivers resulted in a 33 % reduction in total pedestrian injuries \u2013 both fatal and non-fatal — at New York City intersections,<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is to give pedestrians time to reach the center of the intersection where they\u2019re more visible,\u201d Christopher Morrison, lead author of the study and assistant professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School, said in a statement. \u201cMost pedestrian-vehicle crashes happen near the curb, where drivers are less likely to see people crossing.\u201d<\/p>\n The delays or longer head starts, called \u201cLeading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs), \u201d allow walkers to begin crossing before vehicles get a green light to turn, typically offering a 7\u201311 second lead, depending on the intersection size.<\/p>\n For the study, \u201cEffectiveness of leading pedestrian intervals for city walkers\u2019 safety,<\/a>\u201d researchers analyzed 6,003 intersections in New York City from 2013-2018 in what they said is the largest dataset to date evaluating the treatment\u2019s effectiveness and risk. Of the intersections assessed, nearly half had leading pedestrian interval treatments installed.<\/p>\n Researchers focused on pedestrian injuries occurring within 100 feet of a signalized intersection.<\/p>\n The reduction in injuries to walkers was consistent across all intersection types, according to the study, with the most pronounced impact seen during daylight hours, when fatal pedestrian crashes dropped by 65 %.<\/p>\n \u201cAs someone who lives in the city, it is good to know that interventions like LPIs led by NYCDOT are making pedestrians safe,\u201d Siddhesh Zadey, a co-author and doctoral student in Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School, said in a statement.<\/p>\n The report noted that New York City was an early adopter in the United States of the Vision Zero<\/a> or Safe System approach to road safety and design that takes human error into account, first put into effect in Sweden in the 1990s.<\/p>\n The goal of the initiative is to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by creating multiple layers of protection, so if one fails, the others will provide a safety net to lessen the impact of a crash. Improvements are designed to result in: safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and better post-crash care.<\/p>\n As part of the safety net, leading pedestrian intervals\u2014alongside other low-cost measures like speed humps and turn-calming treatments like rubber speed bumps\u2014 \u201care central to the city\u2019s pedestrian safety strategy,\u201d researchers noted.<\/p>\n \u201cLPIs are one of the most affordable and scalable traffic safety interventions,\u201d added Morrison, the lead author of the study. \u201cA 7-second delay for drivers can mean the difference between life and death for pedestrians. Our findings show they work\u2014and should be adopted more widely.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information and to access the study, click here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 7-second delay for drivers resulted in a 33 % reduction in total pedestrian injuries \u2013 both fatal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137,10583,10585,10586,1294,10580,10587,10582,10579,10581,10584],"class_list":{"0":"post-8804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-intersections","12":"tag-mailman","13":"tag-pedestrian-vehicle-crash","14":"tag-risk","15":"tag-road-deaths","16":"tag-road-safety","17":"tag-safe-system","18":"tag-safety-net","19":"tag-vision-zero","20":"tag-walkers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}