Investigation of the Pothole-Designed 3D Pedestrian Crossing to Improve Pedestrian Safety

Every year, approximately 1.19 million people lose their lives in traffic accidents, and more than half of the fatalities are among pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists. Pedestrian accidents are especially attributed to drivers not prioritizing pedestrians and not slowing down at pedestrian crossings. Pedestrians are vulnerable road users and increasing speed may change the result of a crash. Therefore, this study aims to provide visual appeal and encourage drivers to reduce speed with a new pothole-designed 3D pedestrian crossing. The study was implemented on the Başkent University Campus. The vehicle speeds were obtained before and after the 3D pedestrian crossing implementation during morning, noon, and evening peak hours. In conclusion, after implementing the 3D pedestrian crossing, it was observed that the average speed of private vehicles decreased by approximately 44%, service vehicle speeds decreased by 47%, and all vehicle speeds decreased by 46%. The independent t-test showed a statistically significant difference between the before and after average speeds of installing the new 3D pedestrian crossing.