Abstract
About 37 percent of pedestrian injury crashes and 20 percent of fatal crashes occur at intersections. Many conventional countermeasures include traffic control devices that either increase pedestrian attention to potential vehicle-pedestrian conflicts or encourage drivers to yield to pedestrians. A noteworthy limitation of these warning and prompting messages is their reliance on a voluntary behavioral response. Also, public education and enforcement campaigns have generally not produced tangible and long-lasting safety benefits. The present research, conducted at three urban intersections, examined the influence of a three-second leading pedestrian interval (LPI)–a brief, exclusive signal phase dedicated to pedestrian traffic– on pedestrian behavior and conflicts with turning vehicles. Introduction of a three–second LPI reduced conflicts between pedestrians and turning vehicles, reduced the incidence of pedestrians yielding the right-of-way to turning vehicles, and appeared to make crossing the street somewhat easier.