| Title | Safety Benefits of Raised Medians and Pedestrian Refuge Areas |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 67868 |
| Personal Name Contributor |
Redmon, Tamara |
| Corporate Creator | United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety |
| Publisher | United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety |
| Publication Date | 20100101 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | Pedestrian crashes account for about 12% of all traffic fatalities annually. Over 75% of these fatalities occur at non-intersection locations. On average, a pedestrian is killed in a motor vehicle crash every 120 minutes and one is injured every 8 minutes. Many of these crashes are preventable. By providing raised medians and pedestrian refuge islands, these crash numbers can be brought down, injuries prevented, and lives saved. The median is the area between opposing lanes of traffic — a median can either be open (pavement markings only) or channelized (raised medians or islands) to separate various road users. Providing raised medians or pedestrian refuge areas at pedestrian crossings at marked crosswalks has demonstrated a 46% reduction in pedestrian crashes. At unmarked crosswalk locations, pedestrian crashes have been reduced by 39%. Installing raised pedestrian refuge islands on the approaches to unsignalized intersections has had the most impact reducing pedestrian crashes. The Federal Highway Administration strongly encourages the use of raised medians or refuge areas in curbed sections of multi-lane roadways in urban and suburban areas, particularly in areas where there are mixtures of a significant number of pedestrians, high volumes of traffic (more than 12,000 vehicles per day) and intermediate or high travel speeds. |
| Rosap ID | dot:42602 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/42602 |
| TRT Terms | Medians; Pedestrian safety; Pedestrian-vehicle crashes; Multilane highways; Countermeasures |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1335492 |
| Report Number | FHWA-SA-10-020 |
| Resource type | Booklet/Pamphlet |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/67000/67800/67868/FHWA-SA-10-020.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |