Exploring the Determinants of the Severity of Pedestrian Injuries by Pedestrian Age: A Case Study of Daegu Metropolitan City, South Korea

Abstract

Pedestrian-vehicle crashes can result in serious injury to pedestrians, who are exposed to danger when in close proximity to moving vehicles. Furthermore, these injuries can be considerably serious and even lead to death in a manner that varies depending on the pedestrian’s age. This is because the pedestrian’s physical characteristics and behaviors, particularly in relation to roads with moving vehicles, differ depending on the pedestrian’s age. This study examines the determinants of pedestrian injury severity by pedestrian age using binary logistic regression. Factors in the built environment, such as road characteristics and land use of the places where pedestrian crashes occurred, were considered, as were the accident characteristics of the pedestrians and drivers. The analysis determined that the accident characteristics of drivers and pedestrians are more influential in pedestrian-vehicle crashes than the factors of the built environmental characteristics. However, there are substantial differences in injury severity relative to the pedestrian’s age. Young pedestrians (aged under 20 years old) are more likely to suffer serious injury in school zones; however, no association between silver zones and injury severity is found for elderly pedestrians. For people in the age range of 20–39 years old, the severity of pedestrian injuries is lower in areas with more crosswalks and speed cameras. People in the age range of 40–64 years old are more likely to be injured in areas with more neighborhood streets and industrial land use. Elderly pedestrians are likely to suffer fatal injuries in areas with more traffic signals. This study finds that there are differences in the factors of pedestrian injury severity according to the age of pedestrians. Therefore, it is suggested that concrete and efficient policies related to pedestrian age are required to improve pedestrian safety and reduce pedestrian-vehicle crashes.