PROGRAMS

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety

Overview

Statewide support is given to communities to develop pedestrian and bicycle awareness. We provide communities with training and materials to conduct a wide variety of bike and pedestrian safety programs.

Issues

More than 600 pedestrians have been killed on Washington State streets and roadways in the past eight years. According to data released by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC), 611 pedestrians died in the 1993 through 2000 time period.

The most common cause for vehicle/pedestrian collisions, according to the study, was people in the roadway where and when they didn't belong there. More than 500 of the deaths occurred when the pedestrian was not safely out of the cars' portion of the roadway.

Two-lane roads were the most dangerous of all, with 455 pedestrians killed on them. The speed of the cars involved may be the most significant reason. Only seven deaths were caused by cars moving less than 25 miles per hour. At car speeds under 25 mph, a pedestrian has a 85-90% survival chance. Cars going over 25 mph kill pedestrians 85-90% of the time.

The pedestrian death study was compiled from official law enforcement accident investigations. Several common dangers were identified that would lead to fewer deaths if better choices were made by pedestrians and drivers alike.

In addition to being in the roadway, another leading cause of deaths was the time of day. Only one third of all occurred during daylight hours. WTSC suggests all pedestrians wear light-colored clothing or, even better, reflective clothing when walking at night. Brightly colored clothing can help even in the daytime by helping walkers stand out from the background clutter to drivers. Always walk facing traffic so you have time to recognize upcoming danger and get out of the way.

Where pedestrians cross the street can impact their safety. The best place is in a lighted intersection, using a marked crosswalk, with traffic signals to stop oncoming traffic.

Two additional common factors are age and alcohol. Most pedestrian injuries affect the very young who do not understand the danger they are in, or the very old who are not as nimble as they once were. In more then one fourth of all deaths, the pedestrian had a blood alcohol level at the time of death that exceeded Washington's legal limit for driving a car.

On the other side, drivers can increase pedestrian safety by actively looking for objects smaller than cars in the roadway - in other words, pedestrians. This includes looking both left for traffic and right for pedestrians prior to making right-hand turns at intersections. Drivers must also, by law, yield to pedestrians in any intersection, whether marked with crosswalks or not, if the pedestrian is in their half of the roadway. Of course, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs can significantly increase the danger to everyone.

Resource Information

Contact Information

Fact Sheets
News Releases

Watch traffic safety educational videos and ads on YouTube. Visit www.youtube.com - search with "wtsc"

Dowload and print the Bicycle Traffic Laws Brochure

Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Links

Grants, Mini-Grants, and educational materials continue to be a vital portion of the bike and pedestrian programs. Bike and Pedestrian safety brochures, law enforcement roll-call videos and other materials are available to meet community needs. Visit our Grants Page for additional information