EuroTEST puts pedestrian crossings to the test

Publication date: 24 November 2008

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 24th November 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Almost one in four of Europe's 8,000 pedestrian fatalities is killed on supposedly “safe” crossings. Aiming to pinpoint problems for pedestrian safety, but also to show best practice, EuroTest tested crossings in 17 major European cities.

Testing 215 pedestrian crossings revealed that the capital of Europe, Brussels, fares worst. Paradoxically, Brussels is the city where all the most important institutions involved in road safety are located. However, Brussels' pedestrian crossings provide textbook examples of what not to do. Brussels received bad ratings in all the safety categories with particular criticism as regards daytime visibility and accessibility indicators. Poor ratings were also given due to the presence of parked vehicles behind the crossings – a common problem for pedestrians in the city.

Overall, results for the 17 European cities tested show that one in eight crossings failed. This means 28 crossings out of 215 received a “poor” rating. Just over than half of the crossings, 118 were rated positively. Even more surprisingly, on only two crossings received a rating of “very good”. A substantial number, 69 crossings, were deemed to be merely “acceptable”.

For each city, a minimum of 12 crossings were tested by ACI technical experts so as to cover all possible kinds of crossings both in day and night time conditions. Safety was evaluated taking into account factors such as spatial and temporal design, daylight visibility, night-time visibility, accessibility for all the road users. A complex indicator was built in order to assess the safety level of each crossing.

This EuroTest also indicates how much pedestrian crossings differ in Europe. When travelling abroad European citizens face a very wide range of crossings and rules governing the correct behaviour to be adopted when using them. Britons, for example, at home know that they have the right of way from the moment they stand on a sidewalk, waiting to cross. Crossing the road in Italy could pose a very a real danger for Britons since drivers are only obliged to yield the right of way to pedestrians who are already walking on the pedestrian crossing. One clear conclusion is that there is an urgent need for some form of minimum standardisation for pedestrian crossings.

The best rated crossing was found in London at the intersection between Tothill Street and Storey’s Gate. Despite not having traffic lights this crossing was found to have a well designed layout and the presence of a crossing island earned it a “very good” rating in both the spatial and temporal design category. “The use of additional road markings together with zebra stripes proved to be highly efficient both to prevent vehicles from parking nearby the crossings and to give oncoming drivers an optical effect inducing them to slow down,” noted ACI's experts. The use of special lighting devices – with orange beacons and illuminated poles – earned the crossing a “very good” rating as regards night time visibility. The presence of ground-level curbs, tactile paths and acoustic devices meant high scores on accessibility. According to EuroTest, this London crossing should be considered as a reference for pedestrian crossings everywhere. But it is not a case of isolated “best practice”. London boasts six crossings in the “top ten” list. Brussels, on the other hand boasts four out of the five worst crossings.  At the recent POLIS conference in Barcelona on a common agenda for mobility in cities and regions, Isabelle Kardacz, Head of the European Commission’s Road Safety Unit praised FIA clubs for their important work in bringing the Genera Public independent information such as the pedestrian crossing test results, in order to drive improvements in Europe’s road infrastructure.

BACKGROUND
Together with its partner clubs, the FIA's Italian association ACI tested – in September 2008 - a total of 215 pedestrian crossings in 17 major European cities. Tests were conducted by ACI technical experts in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna, Zagreb, and Zurich. ACI's technical experts walked for about 140 km along the 215 crossings.

For more information contact Caroline Ofoegbu at tel:+32 2 282 0815