Pedestrian Safety

The field and practice of protecting people who walk — including those with disabilities, older adults, and children — from injury and death in road traffic environments. Pedestrian safety encompasses road design (crossings, curb ramps, accessible pedestrian signals, raised tables), vehicle technology (automatic emergency braking, acoustic vehicle alerting systems, external human-machine interfaces on automated vehicles), policy and speed management, and communication and awareness. For accessibility, pedestrian safety is disproportionately consequential: blind and low-vision pedestrians, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing pedestrians, wheelchair users, and people with cognitive disabilities each face distinct barriers to perceiving vehicle intent, judging crossing safety, and responding to hazards — motivating inclusive infrastructure, multimodal signaling, and disabled-user involvement in transport design.