Design Response to Study of ‘Left-Turn Vehicle versus Pedestrian’ Crashes at Signalised Intersections in Melbourne, Australia

This paper will summarize part of an assessment of left-turn vehicle (USA right-turn) versus pedestrian crashes at signalized intersections across Metropolitan Melbourne, Australia conducted for VicRoads (the State Road Transportation Agency). Study objectives for this paper include: Evaluating data on the relative safety performance for pedestrians of different left-turn treatments; and Identifying any patterns in the crash types observed for each treatment and if they suggest possible design improvement opportunities. This paper will compare the proportion of crashes at each treatment type versus the proportion of this treatment at all signalized intersections on the Melbourne Metropolitan road network (as volume-based crash rates are impractical for a sufficient sample size). The paper examines the detailed characteristics for each crash. The findings of this paper included: Slip lanes experienced 22% of crashes with 30% of treatments; Exclusive stand-up lanes represent 18% of crashes and 20% of treatments; Shared stand-up lanes represent 60% of crashes and 50% of treatments; and Distinct conflict patterns were detected for each treatment type, suggesting possible improvements in operation or design (e.g. 79% of slip lane crashes featured pedestrians approaching from the drivers left). Further research opportunities were identified including: Refining the categorization of left-turn treatments, addressing the possible bias of slip lane provision toward low activity areas and examining other crash types (e.g. vehicle-vehicle).