Stutter-Flash Light-Emitting-Diode Beacons to Increase Yielding to Pedestrians at Crosswalks

Motorists often fail to yield to pedestrians in marked multilane crosswalks at uncontrolled locations. Several studies have demonstrated that the use of advance yield markings along with a “Yield Here to Pedestrians” sign can reduce the incidence of multiple-threat crashes but have only a small effect on overall driver yielding behavior. A low-cost alternative to increase driver yielding is the use of amber light-emitting-diode (LED) flashers with an irregular flash pattern. As part of an FHWA cooperative agreement to evaluate intelligent transportation system treatments, amber LED flashers with an irregular flash pattern were installed at two multilane crosswalks in Miami–Dade County, Florida, in an experiment to increase yielding behavior. A reversal design was employed in this experiment to demonstrate experimental control at each site. This design involves alternating sessions with and without the devices activated. The results showed that the LED flashers installed on the pedestrian sign produced a marked increase in yielding behavior at both crosswalks and that similar data were collected from staged pedestrians and local residents using these crosswalks. Data also indicated that the use of the device produced a reduction in evasive conflicts between drivers and pedestrians at both sites and a reduction in the percentage of pedestrians trapped in the crosswalk at the center of a road without a median island. A second experiment evaluated the effects of illuminating the departure area with LED lighting when the system was activated at night. This treatment did not produce a further increase in yielding. The LED stutter-flash beacons likely overshadowed the effect of the pad lighting.