01698203

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Pedestrian fatalities continue to be a large problem in the United States, with pedestrian fatalities increasing every year, and increasing at a more rapid pace than motor vehicle crashes. While some attribute these increases with distracted driving, alcohol, or lighting conditions, these factors have not changed in recent years. On the other hand, media reports have begun attributing this increase to the increasing proportion of SUVs on the road. This study sought to evaluate that hypothesis by evaluating crash severity probability based on the proportion of vehicle registrations per county per year by vehicle type, as well as with the proportion of observed vehicles collected from annual safety belt surveys. Ordered logit regression was performed, finding that as SUVs increase as a proportion of both registered and observed vehicles increase, pedestrian crashes are likely to be more severe.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF10 Standing Committee on Pedestrians.

19-04228

English

7p

2019

Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References (18) ; Tables

Crash risk forecasting; Crash severity; Fatalities; Injury severity; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Sport utility vehicles

Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2019 Paper #19-04228

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 7 2018 9:48AM