Crosswalks Lights Keep Pedestrians Safer

Lighted crosswalks appear to be safer for pedestrians, a new report says.

Drivers are more than three times as apt to yield to pedestrians in illuminated crosswalks in areas with few streetlights as opposed to unlighted crosswalks, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The finding is significant because statistics show most pedestrian deaths in auto collisions are after dark; IIHS says approximately 75% of such fatalities happened in those conditions in 2022.

“These results show that simple changes can have a dramatic impact on pedestrian safety,” IIHS President David Harkey said in a press release on the study. “When drivers are yielding, pedestrians aren’t dying.”

The nonprofit group worked with Western Michigan University to study different lighting at a four-way intersection, two T intersections, and a midblock spot, all without traffic signals or stop signs. They tested various types of lighting at the crosswalks to observe how drivers responded.

The study found that all types of lighting increased yielding to pedestrians but that the combination of flashing lights and lighting triggered by the pedestrian before walking into the crosswalks was the most effective. In fact, the combination made drivers 13 times as likely to yield to pedestrians.

“These results show that crosswalk lighting and flashing beacons make pedestrians substantially safer in poorly lit areas,” said study author Wen Hu, IIHS senior research transportation engineer. “Along with lower speed limits and road designs that discourage speeding, these simple solutions have the potential to reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities.”

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