Making Left Turns for Pedestrians Safer

Any incident between a pedestrian and a vehicle has the potential to be fatal for the pedestrian. Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable victims of left turn accidents. A pedestrian in a crosswalk or an unmarked crossing may be unnoticed by drivers making a left turn until it is too late. Recent traffic engineering advances and traffic calming features, on the other hand, can assist reduce pedestrian accidents when making a left turn.

Accidents involving pedestrians making a left turn

In Tampa, the left turn pedestrian accidents have the potential to be among the most violent vehicle-pedestrian crashes. When making a left turn through an intersection, a driver's attention is usually drawn to incoming automobiles and trucks. When approaching a crosswalk, a car may not pay attention to see if a pedestrian is attempting to cross. As a result, both the motorist and the pedestrian may be unaware that an accident is imminent until it is too late to avert it.

Pedestrian deaths in motor vehicle accidents have climbed in the last decade, despite the fact that total mortality in motor vehicle accidents has decreased in recent decades. Pedestrian accidents are responsible for up to 17% of all traffic-related deaths. Across the country, certain communities have taken initiatives to reduce pedestrian deaths. They've passed regulations targeting aggressive driving and altered intersection layout to compel drivers to slow down and drive more cautiously around pedestrians.

Engineers have been working on low-cost, simple-to-install devices that can help lower the risk of left-turn pedestrian accidents and the severity of collisions. These measures were erected to require vehicles to slow down when making left turns and to prevent them from cutting diagonally across junctions that put pedestrians in risk.

What is the Centerline Hardening Technique, and how does it work?

The centerline hardening approach has shown to be both extremely successful and economical to adopt among the junction design enhancements created to avoid left turn pedestrian accident. Between the pedestrian crossing and the open junction, bollards, rubber curbs, poles or other blocking barriers are installed as part of the centerline hardening strategy.

Because a higher-speed, straight, diagonal turn would cause the vehicle to collide with the bollards, the centerline hardening devices require vehicles making a left turn to drop their speed and perform a broader turn closer to a 90-degree angle. Drivers who make a slower, 90-degree turn have more time to see pedestrians crossing the intersection and slowdown in time to avoid a collision.

The Centerline Hardening Technique's Efficacy

According to recent research conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, centerline hardening devices reduced the incidence of left turn pedestrian accidents and near-accidents at junctions where they were implemented. The study said the new infrastructure resulted in a 70% reduction in the number of incidents in which a driver had to brake suddenly or swerve to avoid a pedestrian, or a pedestrian had to move out of the way of a vehicle making a left turn, based on data from intersections where the centerline hardening technique was implemented.

According to the research, centerline hardening at junctions lowered the average speed of cars making left turns by up to 7%. The number of drivers doing 15mph or faster left turns has decreased by 36%. Reduced speeds entail a lesser chance of serious injury to pedestrians in the case of a collision. The number of incidents involving automobiles and pedestrians in Tampa junctions where centerline hardening equipment had not been installed remained steady.

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