Perils for Pedestrians
TV talk about people who walk
A television series examining issues affecting people who walk.
We interview advocates and government planners about problems such as missing sidewalks and crosswalks, dangerous intersections, speeding traffic, and obstacles to wheelchair users and people with disabilities; and solutions to such problems.
Perils For Pedestrians appears on public access cable stations in many cities across the United States and is also webcast. The program is provided free to volunteers willing to act as the program's sponsor on their local public access cable station.
Episodes
- We talk with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari about Livable Communities, at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Trail.
- We visit a new pedestrian bridge across the Missouri River between Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa.
- We travel to Kansas City, Missouri, where it is difficult for pedestrians to cross the Missouri River.
- We drop in on the grand opening of the Walkway Over The Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York. We ask Governor Paterson about pedestrian access to other New York bridges.
What is a peril? Where can I watch the show? There are now 3 ways to see Perils For Pedestrians:
What I Can Do? |
Past episodes of Perils For Pedestrians are now available on a set of DVDs. Ask how to order a set. John@Pedestrians.org If Pedestrians
had clout Statistics about pedestrian safety Pedestrian Bridges Sidewalks Placement In Support of Retrofit Sidewalks Publications |
Mean Streets 1998 Children at Risk "In fact, on a per-mile basis,
walking is more dangerous than driving, flying, or riding a
bus or train .... We found that most fatalities — 69 percent
— occur on neighborhood streets. |
Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Types of the Early 1990's Approximately 6,500 pedestrians and 900 bicyclists are killed each year as a result of collisions with motor vehicles. As a group, pedestrians and bicyclists comprise more than 14 percent of all highway fatalities each year. |
Synthesis of Safety Research - Pedestrians A 1983 study by Tobey et. al. [1] investigated the safety effects of sidewalks. Sites with no sidewalks or pathways were the most hazardous for pedestrians, with pedestrian hazard scores of +2.6 and a PxV exposure score (i.e. exposure measure includes pedestrian volumes times traffic volume) of +2.2. This indicates that accidents at sites without sidewalks are more than twice as likely to occur than expected. Sites with sidewalks on one side of the road had a pedestrian volume and PxV hazard scores of +1.2 and +1.1, compared to scores of -1.2 and -1.2 for sites with sidewalks on bothsides of the road. Thus, sites with no sidewalks were the most hazardous to pedestrians, and least hazardous where sidewalks are present on both sides of the road. 1) H.N. Tobey, E.M. Shunamen, and R. L. Knoblauch, Pedestrian Trip Making Characteristics and Exposure Measures, DTFH61-81-C-00020, Federal Highway Administration, 1983. |
