Attachment C <br />Pedestrian safety: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners <br />Attach B <br />4.2.2 Reducing vehicle speeds <br />One of the most effective ways to improve pedestrian safety is to reduce the speed of <br />vehicles (16). As discussed above, and in Modules i and 2, speed is a key risk factor <br />for pedestrian traffic injury. If possible, speed management measures should be used <br />alongside measures to reduce pedestrian exposure to vehicular traffic. Even if it is <br />not possible to reduce pedestrian exposure to traffic, speed management remains an <br />effective measure to reduce pedestrian traffic risk, and a core component of the Safe <br />System approach. <br />Speed management is much more than setting and enforcing appropriate speed <br />limits. It employs a range of measures in engineering, enforcement and education <br />with the aim of balancing safety and efficient vehicle speeds on the road network. <br />Detailed guidance on the effectiveness and implementation of speed management <br />strategies can be found in Speed management (17), and Speed management: A road <br />safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners (18). As shown in Module 2, there <br />is a growing effort to implement system-wide lower speeds of 3o km/h or even less <br />for entire geographical areas instead of focusing on individual streets (19). <br />The engineering approach to speed management consists of a number of specific <br />traffic calming measures - physical treatments to roads as well as perceptual <br />treatments and speed limit reductions aimed at reducing vehicle speeds and <br />sometimes traffic volume (2o). Traffic-calming measures are generally of two types: <br />those that require motorists to change their direction of travel by moving either to <br />the left or right; and <br />. those that require motorists to change elevation by either going up or down. <br />Perceptual design is the use of psychological principles such as pat- <br />terns painted onto road surfaces that encourage drivers to reduce <br />their speed (21). <br />Traffic-calming measures can vary from a few minor changes, through modifications <br />of local streets, to area-wide changes and major rebuilds (2o). Their efforts include <br />moderate speed reductions and street design changes, with various degrees of success <br />in reducing pedestrian crashes and traffic volume. A number of studies show a <br />reduction in pedestrian-vehicle conflicts and crashes associated with refuge islands, <br />marked crossings with raised median, road narrowing, staggered lanes, road humps <br />and junction redesign (3,22-24). Box 4.5 provides an example of implementation of a <br />variety of traffic-calming measures in a town in China. <br />Page 221 <br />