Effects Of The Distance Between Speed Humps And Pedestrian Crossings On Gap Acceptance Behavior Of Pedestrians (in The Case Of Tor Hailoch To Bethel Road)
Road And Transportation Engineering Project Topics
Vehicles increase in numbers on a daily basis. In spite of the fact that they offer an improvedrnconvenience, they also have brought about negative effects. For instance, losses of lives andrnproperties are considered as one of the major consequences. In relation to this, pedestrian crossingsrnare critical places for road accidents involving pedestrians and motor vehicles. rnDue to the relation between speed and severe injury the driver's speed has a crucial impact onrnpedestrian safety. To this end, controlling the speed of vehicles on various roads and streets isrncrucial in order to maintain the safety of people and to prevent any possibility of injury or death.rnNowadays, in the city of Addis Ababa, speed humps are becoming a common physical measurerninstalled near pedestrian crossings to reduce vehicle speeds to improve the safety and mobility ofrnpedestrians at the crossing. rnTaking in to account the practiced possible measures in reduction of the speed of vehicle, theirrnfamiliarization with pedestrians' safety and comfort shall also be assessed properly. This thesisrncontains the detailed assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of speed humps near crossings,rnalong Tor Hailoch to Bethel road segment, in the reduction of the vehicle speed and its contributionrnon the mobility and comfort of pedestrians while crossing the road by categorizing the distancernbetween speed humps and pedestrian crossings into shorter (less than 6m) and longer (more thanrn6m). In addition, by extracting the data from the total observation, the study also evaluates thernmobility and comfort of children and the elderly pedestrians. Interview has also conducted withrnpedestrians that using both the shorter and the longer distances as found necessary. rnFrom the total observation, it is noted that drivers give more way to pedestrians at crossings on thernlonger distances. In addition, it is noted that the gap acceptance behavior of pedestrians is impactedrnon the shorter distance sites as more pedestrians are stopped before crossing and change their pacernand/or run while crossing. Moreover, it is observed that pedestrians cross comfortably at straightrnon the longer distances rather than the short distances. The results gained by extracting the childrenrnand elders from the total observed data also shows the same effect as the total observations. rnNotwithstanding with the results found on the road users' behavior, the shorter distance exercisesrnless vehicle speed on pedestrian crossing comparing to the longer distances. In connection, most ofrnthe interviewed pedestrians emphasized that they will not be sure whether the driver give them wayrnor not on the shorter distances.