Everyone is a pedestrian at some stage in their journey. This means pedestrians are a highly diverse road user group which includes children, older people, teenagers, joggers, the disabled and mobility impaired, and people using wheeled toys or recreational devices such as skateboards, rollerblades and foot scooters.
Pedestrians are particularly vulnerable in the road environment because most other road users are moving significantly faster than pedestrians, and pedestrians have little or no bodily protection in the event of a collision.
Pedestrians are also often difficult to see and their behaviours may be unpredictable. This can make it challenging for other road users to successfully factor pedestrians into the decisions they are constantly making as drivers and riders.
Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) places a very strong focus on pedestrian safety and implements a wide range of programs (and projects) that deliver pedestrian safety benefits.
- 40 km/h speed limit in high pedestrian activity areas
- 50 km/h urban speed limits
- Safety around schools – 40 km/h school zones and dragons teeth
- Safety cameras at intersections
- Public education campaigns
- Pedestrian fencing
- Shared zones
- Pedestrian bridges
- Shared paths.
In the five years from 2004 to 2008 around one in six people killed on the road was a pedestrian. This was more than 15 per cent of road fatalities in NSW. Of all crashes in which a pedestrian is killed, nearly a third occur between 10 pm and 6 am. Injuries, particularly in the metropolitan area, peak during the mid-morning (8am to 10 am) and mid afternoon (2pm to 6pm). Pedestrian fatal crashes are more likely to occur on Fridays and Saturdays, while injuries are more prevalent on weekdays. Male pedestrians are particularly at risk of being killed and injured in crashes.