Drivers more likely to yield to pedestrian in lighted crosswalks, study finds

In areas with illuminated crosswalks, drivers are most than three times as likely to yield to pedestrians, a new study has found.

According to a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, dark areas with few streetlights and less likely to have drivers yield to pedestrians than ones that are better lit. At lighted crosswalks that also include flashing yellow warning beacons, driver are more than 13 times as likely to yield to pedestrians, the study found.

“These results show that simple changes can have a dramatic impact on pedestrian safety,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “When drivers are yielding, pedestrians aren’t dying.”

Researchers from IIHS and Western Michigan University compared the effects of different crosswalk lighting systems at two T-intersections, a four-way intersection and a midblock location in Kalamazoo, Michigan. None of the locations had a stop sign or traffic signal, the researchers said, but one of the T-intersections featured a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) – yellow LEDs mounted to pedestrian or bicycle crossing signs that flash intermittently when someone crosses.

At all four locations, researchers tested what kind of an effect commercially illuminated crosswalks had on traffic, either when constantly lighted, or when the lights were triggered by a pedestrian.

“These results show that crosswalk lighting and flashing beacons make pedestrians substantially safer in poorly lit areas,” said study author Wen Hu, IIHS senior research transportation engineer. “Along with lower speed limits and road designs that discourage speeding, these simple solutions have the potential to reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities.”

In 2022, about 75 percent of the 7,522 pedestrians who died in motor vehicle crashes were killed in the dark, researchers said, which suggests that improved lighting could help avoid pedestrian fatalities.

Researchers found that any type of added lighting or flashing beacons improved driver reaction to pedestrians at the three dark locations. Drivers yielded most when there was a combination of flashers and triggered crosswalk lighting.

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