Traffic Tech #227: Five Steps To A Community Pedestrian Alcohol Program |
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The single largest contributor to the adult pedestrian crash problem in America is alcohol impairment. In 1997, 34.6 percent of the fatally injured pedestrians had measurable alcohol in their systems at the time of the crash. For those age 16 and older, 32.7 percent were intoxicated, that is, had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .10 or greater (from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS). While major private and public efforts have been made to reduce drinking and driving, not as much has been done for the drunk pedestrian.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sponsored a study to devise, develop, and test a set of countermeasures to reduce alcohol-related pedestrian crashes in a city. Baltimore, Maryland was selected as the demonstration site. Local city representatives and a Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP) participated. For the initial analysis, the police provided three years of crash reports and a physician associated with the Baltimore Shock Trauma Unit agreed to obtain data to describe typical pre-crash events of drinkers.
Interviews with Alcohol-Impaired Pedestrians
To collect information about the kinds of activities pedestrians (with and without alcohol) were doing before they became involved in a pedestrian crash, interviews were conducted with 20 individuals who had been involved in crashes after drinking. They were chosen from those treated at a Baltimore Shock Trauma Unit where BACs were routinely measured on all victims. All had high BACs of .13 or more at the time of their admission. For comparison purposes, interviews were also conducted with 10 individuals who were not involved in crashes, but were undergoing treatment for drugs and/or alcohol at various centers in Stamford, CT. Storyboards were developed to characterize each victim's and non-victim's walking and drinking activities during the day. The individuals and organizations they had come into contact with were identified, and who, conceivably, might have intervened to prevent a pedestrian crash. Findings include:
Police Crash Reports Define the Problem
Analysis of three years of Baltimore police crash reports helped describe the problem. Location data were entered into a computerized mapping system and high crash geometric zones, forming a polygon and circle were identified. These zones accounted for 73 percent of the total HBD (had been drinking) crashes in 21 percent of Baltimore's land area.
Countermeasures
The City of Baltimore established a task force, led by the Department of Pubic Works with participa-tion by traffic engineering, information services, and pedestrian safety groups, and included the Police, Fire, and Health Departments, and the Board of Liquor License Commissioners. They chose Walk Smart Baltimore as the logo and footprint of a cohesive program that embedded the pedestrian alcohol effort into a larger pedestrian safety program. Countermeasures used were in three main categories:
Education
Materials or activities to inform the
public or specific groups about the problem and what they can do. These included press kits, television and radio PSAs, a slide series and presenter's guide, and safety demonstrations.
Enforcement
Activities that police or adjudication
groups can do to help solve the problem. These included a police training video on the pedestrian alcohol problem and appropriate police responses -- intervening and counseling, arranging for transportation, confiscating open bottles of liquor, and enforcing laws.
Engineering
Changes made to the roadway or
environment such as sight distance or lighting
improvements can help solve the problem. These included special signs warning of pedestrian traffic and speed limits, banners, lighting, removing visual screens, and refreshing crosswalks.
Results
There were large reductions in annual crashes from the baseline time period for total crashes, in-zone crashes, crashes on treated roads, and serious (incapacitating and fatal) crashes.
Report and Booklet
The technical report details the approach, data, countermeasure selection, and evaluation. The appendices document crash victim data, non-victim data, recommended countermeasures, sample task force agenda, program posters and flyers, slide series (Presenter's Guide), video and television shooting scripts, and radio copy for PSAs.
The appendix contains a booklet, Five Steps to a Community Pedestrian Alcohol Program, that describes the steps to generate community-wide publicity to maintain interest in the program over time, drawing on Baltimore's program. Both discuss important evaluation steps to measure the effectiveness of a community program.
HOW TO ORDER
For a copy of the technical report, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Countermeasure Program for Alcohol-Involved Pedestrian Crashes (49 pages plus appendices), prepared by Dunlap and Associates, write to the Office of Research and Traffic Records, NHTSA, NTS-31, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590, or fax (202) 366-7096. Marv Levy, Ph.D., was the contract manager.
U.S. Department
of Transportation
National Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration
400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTS-31
Washington, DC 20590
Traffic Tech is a publication to disseminate
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and new publications. Feel free to copy it as you wish.
If you would like to receive a copy contact:
Linda Cosgrove, Ph.D., Editor, Evaluation Staff
Traffic Safety Programs
(202) 366-2759, fax (202) 366-7096
mailto:lcosgrove@nhtsa.dot.gov