1. Common sense will tell you that the following factors spell danger for pedestrians:

a.     High vehicle speeds

b.     Low visibility

c.     Vulnerable crosswalk users, especially children and seniors

2. To identify dangerous crosswalks watch for these factors, as well as their causes.

         a. High-speed driving is encouraged by streets that are:

i.               long (or with long distances between stops),

ii.              straight,

iii.            smooth (think lack of speed bumps), and

iv.            wide.

b.     Visibility can be reduced by

i.          curves in the road,

ii.              objects in the roadway or on the side of the road,

iii.            weather conditions,

iv.            poor lighting,

v.              poor crosswalk indicators

vi.            poorly maintained trees and vegetation, and

vii.           other obstructions.

c.     Crosswalks located near schools, hospitals, churches and retirement homes have a higher probability of being used by vulnerable pedestrian populations.

 

B.    The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

1.     It's cliché, but true, and most cities tend to be reactive rather than proactive. Thus, crosswalks that urgently need improvement exhibit the following traits:

a.     A history of accidents

b.     High pedestrian traffic usage

c.     High speed vehicle traffic

d.     Vulnerable users (children and seniors)

2.     Does that mean that if your site doesn't have one or all of these traits that there's no chance you'll get it improved? Of course not. It just means that if your site does exhibit these traits, you want to emphasize these risk factors when you make your pitch to decision makers.