Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool
Click
here to read what Mike Trentacoste, Director, Office of Safety
R&D; of FHWA says about Orlando's use of PBCAT.
The Pedestrian
and Bicycle Safety Research Program focuses on identifying problem
areas for pedestrians and bicycles, developing analysis tools that
allow planners and engineers to better understand and target these
problem areas, and evaluating countermeasures to reduce the number
of crashes involving pedestrian and bicycles.
What
is PBCAT | Why
Crash Typing | Software
Features | More
Information | References
What
is PBCAT?
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
has developed a Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT) through
the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC).
In
1998, 5,220 pedestrians and 761 bicyclists were killed, accounting for 14 percent
of all traffic fatalities. An additional 69,000 pedestrians and 53,000 bicyclists
were reported to be injured as a result of collisions with motor vehicles. PBCAT
is a software product intended to assist state and local bicycle coordinators,
planners, and engineers with this problem.
PBCAT
accomplishes this goal through the development and analysis of a data base containing
details associated with crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists.
One of these details is the crash type, which describes the pre-crash
actions of the parties involved. With the data base developed, the software
can then be used to produce reports and select countermeasures to address the
problems identified.
Why
Crash Typing?
The development of effective
countermeasures to help prevent bicyclist and pedestrian crashes is hindered by
insufficient detail on computerized state crash files. Analysis of these data
can provide information on where pedestrian and bicyclist crashes occur (city,
street, intersection, two-lane road, etc.), when they occur (time of day, day
of week, etc.), and characteristics of the victims involved (age, gender, injury
severity, etc.). These data cannot provide a sufficient level of detail regarding
the sequence of events leading to the crash.
In the 1970's, methods
for typing pedestrian and bicycle crashes were developed by NHTSA to
better define the sequence of events and precipitating actions leading to bicycle-
and pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes.1,2 In the 1990's, the methodologies
were applied to over 8,000 pedestrian and bicycle crashes from six States. The
results provided a representative summary of the distribution of crash types
experienced by pedestrians and bicyclists.3,4,5 This method has evolved
over time and was refined as part of the development of this software package.
Software
Features
PBCAT
is designed with the following features:
- Ability
to quickly determine the crash type through a series of on-screen
questions about the crash, crash location, and maneuvers of the parties involved.
- Ability
to customize the data base in terms of units of measurement, variables, and
location referencing as well as import/export data from/to other data bases.
- Ability to produce a
series of tables and graphs defining the various crash types and
other factors associated with the crashes such as age, gender,
light conditions, etc.
- Recommended
countermeasures linked to specific bicycle and pedestrian crash types and
related resource and reference information.
- User-friendly, on-line instructions
and help features, including examples, along with a user's manual.
For
More Information
PBCAT is now available
and includes the software itself and a User's
manual (FHWA-RD-99-192). On-line registration and order capabilities
for the product are currently available.
This software was developed
by David L. Harkey of the University
of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center and Jim Mekemson
and Min-Ching Chen of Lendis Corporation. For more information about
this product, please contact any of the individuals below:
Carol Tan Esse
Federal Highway Administration
E-mail:
carol.tan.esse@fhwa.dot.gov
David
Harkey
University of North Carolina
Highway Safety Research Center
E-mail:
david_harkey@unc.edu
References
1. M.B. Snyder and R.L.
Knoblauch, Pedestrian Safety: The Identification of Precipitating
Factors and Possible Countermeasures (Publication No. FH-11-7312),
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, DC,
1971.
2. K.D. Cross and G Fisher, A Study
of Bicycle/Motor Vehicle Accidents: Identification of Problem Types
and Countermeasure Approaches, Volume I (Publication No. DOT
HS-803 315), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington,
DC, 1977.
1. W.W. Hunter, J.C. Stutts, W.E. Pein,
and C.L. Cox, Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Types of the Early
1990's (Publication No. FHWA-RD-95-163), Federal Highway Administration,
Washington, DC, June 1996.
1. W.W. Hunter, J.C. Stutts, and W.E.
Pein, Pedestrian Crash Types: A 1990's Informational Guide
(Publication No. FHWA-RD-96-163), Federal Highway Administration,
Washington, DC, April 1997.
1. W.W. Hunter, W.E. Pein, and J.C.
Stutts, Bicycle Crash Types: A 1990's Informational Guide
(Publication No. FHWA-RD-96-104), Federal Highway Administration,
Washington, DC, April 1997.
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