New England UTC Year 24 – Research/Education Project Description
UTC Project Number: UCNR24-30
Project Title: Investigation of Road and Roadside Design Elements Associated with
Elderly Pedestrian Safety
University: University of Connecticut
Principal Investigators: John N. Ivan, Ph.D. and Nalini Ravishanker, Ph.D.
PI Contact Information:
John N. Ivan, john.ivan@uconn.edu
Nalini Ravishanker, Nalini.ravishanker@uconn.edu
Funding Sources: $63,038 (Federal), $65,199 (Cost Share)
Total Project Cost: $128,237
Funding Agency: USDOT/RITA
Grant number: DTRT12-G-UTC01
Start date: 1/1/12 (Start date at UConn: 8/23/12)
End date: 12/31/13
Brief description of project:
This project will investigate factors associated with senior pedestrian crash severity
relative to non-seniors and the extent to which observations of conflict severity between
senior pedestrians and vehicles are adequate indicators of the actual crash severity.
The project will also explore the sensitivity of the findings to the size of sample drawn
from a large database consisting of all crashes involving pedestrians in Connecticut
from 1995 to 2011. We will draw several repeated random samples of crashes involving
senior pedestrians and non-senior pedestrians from the large crash database, merge
each of these samples against a database containing the road and roadside
characteristics, fit suitable regression, and then use meta-analysis methods to combine
information from the repeated samples to obtain a robust covariate selection. Conflicts
between pedestrians and vehicles will be observed using a variation of the Swedish
Traffic Conflicts Technique, and classified by estimated age of the pedestrian and the
severity of the conflict. Observations will be made at locations specifically targeted for
having characteristics found to be associated with senior pedestrian crash severity
relative to non-seniors. We propose a statistical test of association between conflict
severity and crash severity based on data obtained through the field observation and
1
sampled from the crash database. We also propose a hierarchical regression of crash
severity on road and road characteristics as well as conflicts severity, where conflicts
severity is itself modeled as a function of relevant predictors. The project will acquire
data from the Connecticut Crash Data Repository now being developed at the
University and share results with the users of the Repository through a Living
Laboratory arrangement.
Describe implementation of research/education outcomes:
In addition to the living laboratory application, described below, the findings from this
research will be transferred to both researchers and practitioners by the following
products:
 A final report documenting the study objectives, data collection, statistical
analysis and interpretation of the results;
 Papers prepared for scholarly conferences and peer-reviewed journals; and
 An article summarizing the findings for the newsletter of the Connecticut
Transportation Institute’s Technology Transfer Center.
Impacts/benefits of implementation:
Most efforts to improve safety of senior pedestrians have focused on behavioral and
human factor considerations. This project will identify physical characteristics of the
road and roadside associated with higher severity for senior pedestrian crashes relative
to non-seniors. We will also identify the extent to which - and the contexts in which observations of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts are good predictors for the actual crash
severity distribution for senior pedestrians. These findings will be valuable for road
safety analysts both to learn the road and neighborhood contexts that are most critical
for improving senior pedestrian safety as well as the value of using short term
observations of conflicts as a tool for learning where to further focus safety improvement
efforts.
A team at the University of Connecticut is developing a crash data repository (CDR) for
the State of Connecticut. This development is currently funded by the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); the ConnDOT Bureau of Policy and Planning is
now considering transferring long-term maintenance of its crash record database to the
University, effectively institutionalizing the CDR for archiving crash data for the State. At
this point the repository includes data extracted from police reports describing crashes
on the State road network since January 1, 1995, along with all crashes on local roads
since January 1, 2007 and all injury or fatal crashes on local roads from January 1,
1995 to December 31, 2006. The CDR will soon include roadway characteristics,
including traffic volumes for all State roads.
The CDR offers an outstanding opportunity for a “living laboratory” application of the
outcomes of this proposed research as well as other road safety research conducted in
Connecticut. In fact, the CDR will provide the data for the project. The CDR will offer
users the capability of preparing canned or user-defined reports as well as download
raw data for any selection of roads in Connecticut. The CDR can also incorporate the
findings from this project by offering users pre-defined reports and analysis that will
2
identify road locations with characteristics associated with senior pedestrian safety
issues and then compare the observed crash experience to identify the locations where
action is indicated. This project will be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the
potential for a two-way “living laboratory” relationship between practice and research
using the CDR.
3