* * mom Imp1emdh1tt1Ohl and Deve1O me t, t ra P a Co,unte S1^re Pr Evaluatbohb of Pediestria* n Crashes for A1CO1101 1o1l * * C~ Eft`>:-^ . Holiday Traffic Safety- s Drunk Drivers Aren't The Only Ones Who Get 5,,a Ak Ask MR- * Drunk Walkers Do Too! gww ALCOHOL ti^1 DO'S ^°i0 t^ 2,000 * This publication is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Transportation or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. If trade or manufacturers' names or products are mentioned, it is because they are considered essential to the object of the publication and should not be construed as an endorsement. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Technical Re ort Documentation Pa e I. Report No. DOT HS 809 067 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Countermeasure July 2000 Program for Alcohol-Involved Pedestrian Crashes 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Richard D. Blomberg and Arlene M. Cleven DA98-1 (618) 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Dunlap and Associates, Inc. 1010 Summer Street 11. Contract or Grant No. Stamford, CT 06905-5503 DTNH22-91-C-07202 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered U.S. Department of Transportation Final Report National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 9/27/91 - 12/30/97 400 Seventh Street, S.W. 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, D.C. 20590 15. Supplementary Notes Dr. Marvin Levy served as the NHTSA Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for the study. 16. Abstract The objectives of this study were to analyze the pedestrian alcohol problem in a community and to develop and apply procedures to counter the problem. The City of Baltimore was selected as the test city. It was estimated that approximately 40% of the pedestrian crashes in the city involved alcohol. An interdepartmental task force developed and implemented a comprehensive countermeasure program. When possible, countermeasures were implemented in one oftwo "zones" in the center of the city selected to include 73% ofthe pedestrian alcohol crashes in 21% of the land area. Since "had been drinking" was not routinely checked on police crash reports in the city, a surrogate measure was developed to estimate the occurrence of a pedestrian alcohol crash. This surrogate group included males between the ages of 30 and 59 who had pedestrian crashes from 7:00 pm to 3:59 am on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights (ending at 3:59 am Monday morning). Substantial reductions for the surrogate group in total crashes, zone crashes and crashes on roads on which special signs were erected lead to the conclusion that the study made positive inroads into reducing the pedestrian alcohol problem in Baltimore. In addition, a statistically significant time series analysis of crashes on treated roads involving age 14+ males leads to the conclusion that this was an effective pedestrian crash countermeasure. Also, the process for forming and using a community task force developed as part of this study formed the basis for the development of a guide for communities considering mounting pedestrian alcohol programs. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Pedestrian Alcohol Document is available to the public through the Alcohol National Technical Information Service, VA 22161 Pedestrian Safety 19. Security Classif.(of this report) 20. Security Classif.(of this page) 22. 21. No. of Pages Price Unclassified Unclassified Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized i TECHNICAL SUMMARY Research sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has shown that alcohol impairment is the single largest contributor to the adult pedestrian crash problem. Data from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) in 1997 showed that 34.6% of the fatally injured pedestrians had measurable alcohol in their systems at the time of the crash. For the same year, for those 16 and older, 32.7% were intoxicated, that is, had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 grams per deciliter (g/dl) or greater. In 1975, NHTSA initiated research on the problem through its landmark New Orleans study.' That study clearly indicated that alcohol was a major problem in pedestrian crashes. Positive BACs were obtained in 44% of the crashes involving pedestrians 14 years of age and older. The victim was typically a middle-aged male with a very high BAC level who was struck late at night on a weekend. In addition, it was learned that, when impaired by alcohol, the pedestrian typically made the critical errors that resulted in a crash. In the interim, major efforts have been made to reduce drinking and driving, but little concern has been expressed for the drunk pedestrian who is involved in a crash. The victim is not one who typically gets sympathy from the public. However, since alcohol is the largest pedestrian problem, NHTSA recognized that further research was needed to counter the problem. Therefore, it funded the current study whose objective was to devise, develop and test a set of countermeasures designed to reduce alcohol-related pedestrian crashes. The study involved the following major tasks: n Selection of a test city with a sufficiently large number of pedestrian crashes to support a crash-based test of the countermeasure program. n Development of storyboards that describe typical pre-crash events of crash-victim drinkers and non-crash events of non-victim drinkers. n Development of a data base of the test city pedestrian police crash reports. n Identification of variables associated with alcohol crashes in the test city as well as areas (zones) of the city in which these crashes are prevalent. n Development, implementation and evaluation of measures to counter the pedestrian alcohol problem. 1 Blomberg, R.D., Preusser, D. F., Hale, A. and Ulmer, R.G. A comparison of alcohol involvement in pedestrians and pedestrian casualties. U. S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, DC, Contract No. DOT-HS-4-00946, Final Report, October 1979. iii n Preparation of a manual to serve as a guide for other communities in designing and implementing pedestrian alcohol countermeasure programs. Baltimore (MD) was selected to be the test city. It was sufficiently large to support a crash- based evaluation. Local city representatives, including a Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP), expressed interest in the study, and three years of police crash reports were made available for initial analysis of the problem. In addition, a physician associated with a Baltimore Shock Trauma Unit agreed to obtain the data needed to create storyboards for the crash victims. In-depth discussions were held with 20 individuals who had been involved in crashes after drinking and with 10 individuals who walked extensively after drinking but were not involved in crashes. The crash victims were chosen from individuals treated at a Baltimore Shock Trauma Unit where blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were routinely measured on all victims. All had high BACs (0.130 g/dl or more) at the time of their post-crash admission to the Shock Trauma Unit. The non-crash individuals were undergoing treatment for drugs and/or alcohol at various centers in Stamford (CT). The results of these interviews were translated into storyboards which showed each crash victim's and non-victim's day. These storyboards provided insights into the pedestrian's walking and drinking activities; in addition, they identified the individuals and organizations with whom the pedestrians interacted and who might have intervened to prevent a crash. These interviews and analyses of Shock Trauma Unit BAC data showed the following: n Alcohol use on the part of the pedestrian was involved in approximately 40% of the 14+ pedestrian crashes in Baltimore. n The drinking pedestrian who gets involved in a crash has a very high BAC--usually more than twice the legal limit for driving. n Most crashes occur near the victim's home and when the victim is making a relatively short trip (for example, to go to a nearby store for food or cigarettes). n High BAC victims and non-victims come in contact with people who could intervene and possibly prevent a pedestrian crash. In addition to relatives and friends, these include liquor sellers and servers, social service representatives, the police and others. n Both victims and non-victims feel crashes could be avoided if pedestrians drank in moderation and paid better attention to safe pedestrian behavior. n Victims and non-victims also feel that driver behavior could be improved (particularly driver speeds and knowledge of the cues of an impaired pedestrian) and that engineering improvements (e.g., improved lighting, installation of traffic and pedestrian signals) could make the city's streets safer. Three years of Baltimore police crash reports provided initial data for describing the problem in Baltimore. These data showed that crash victims marked as "had been drinking" (HBD) by the iv investigating officer were usually males in the age range 30 to 59. Crashes typically occurred from 6:00 pm to 3:00 am on weekends. The victim was often wearing dark clothing and was not crossing at an intersection or in a crosswalk. The data base included a complete coding of the location of each crash. The location data for the HBD crashes were brought into a computerized mapping system and analyzed to determine where the HBD crashes occurred.