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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

In recent decades, pedestrian safety studies have become a significant topic in

traffic safety, addressing issues in various locations. Despite urgent efforts, official figures

show a high proportion of pedestrian fatalities. Pedestrian safety at crosswalks may be

endangered. Pedestrians are those who engage in a variety of activities, such as biking,

jogging, roller skating, skateboarding, scootering, and walking (Bruce,2021).

There are many traffic rules and regulations that were implemented to ensure the

safety of the people; however, accidents still occur every day. The main reason is that some

undisciplined individuals fail to obey the traffic laws. These people do illegal things such

as speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, reckless driving, etc.

Pedestrians are a crucial component of the transportation system. Despite its

significance, pedestrian demands are sometimes overlooked when designing and

expanding transportation systems, especially in developing nations. Pedestrian mobs, also

known as pedestrian crowds, exhibit unpredictable behavior that is challenging to control

in accordance with traffic engineering standards due to psychological influences and other

pertinent elements. Road and pedestrian infrastructures can be made safer by

comprehending and modeling how pedestrians act in different conditions, individually and

in groups (NHTSA 2022).

Tario (2024) stated that the assurance of walking in public spaces without fear of

injury is essential for pedestrian safety. The main factor endangering pedestrian safety is

risky behavior, including unlawful crossing, illegal speeding, breaking traffic laws, illegal

overtaking, and aggressive crossing. These behaviors pose a significant risk to pedestrians'

lives and the general health of the communities. Roadway characteristics, such as street

width, number of lanes, and crosswalks, are correlated with pedestrian accidents. Wider

streets generally increase crossing times and exposure, raising accident likelihood. Another

factor that endangers lives is the lack of traffic control devices or traffic safety devices such

as street lights, traffic signals, stop signs, crosswalk signals, road signs, speed bumps, and
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other infrastructure that ensures the safety of pedestrians and drivers. These factors could

lead to fatal injuries and deaths of pedestrians, causing many drivers and pedestrians to be

anxious about whether or not they would feel safe when traveling or when walking along

the road. Hence, addressing these factors through targeted interventions can improve

pedestrian safety and reduce accident rates.

According to the study of Adraro Angelo (2023), to enhance pedestrian safety,

various infrastructure measures can be implemented, including strategically placed

crosswalks and pedestrian signals that assist individuals in crossing streets safely. Having

traffic signals that are both clear and timely can lower the number of accidents. Raised

crosswalks and pedestrian islands can further improve safety. Teaching drivers the

significance of giving way to pedestrians and following speed limits is crucial. Drivers

need to stay alert, particularly in zones where there are many pedestrians. Consistent and

properly kept sidewalks create a secure area for people on foot. Hazards can arise from

obstacles and poorly planned routes. It is also important to ensure that pedestrians are easily

seen, particularly in conditions with low light. Proper street lighting, reflective clothing,

and well-marked crosswalks are the keys to achieving this. Furthermore, infrastructure

should be designed with specific features, such as visible markings, sufficient lighting,

timed pedestrian signals, safety zones, road narrowing, chicanes, speed humps, crossing

guard facilities, landscaping, buffer zones, urban furniture, and crosswalk design. These

features ensure visibility, reduce traffic speed, control speed, and a safer environment for

pedestrians. Urban furniture, such as benches, trash cans, and bike racks also maintains

clear sidewalks. In general, ensuring pedestrian safety involves a blend of careful city

planning, successful traffic control, and raising public awareness to establish more

comfortable and safer walking spaces.

This study aims to explore pedestrian infrastructure and pedestrian safety. It aims

to improve pedestrian safety or infrastructure in correlation with the design of pedestrians

and roads. If it proves or gives improvements to the study, it will boost and contribute to

the advancement of designs in the transportation engineering field. Furthermore, from a

technological standpoint, this study will stimulate new ideas and innovations in
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engineering and construction practices. These outcomes are expected to contribute to the

ongoing advancement of both academia and the engineering field.

Statement of the Problem

Accidents are one of the crucial issues that can be encountered on roads and

highways that need to be controlled. It came from collisions of vehicles, slippery roads,

broken roads, indiscipline drivers, and pedestrian infrastructure. Pedestrian infrastructure

is an important component in reducing minor accidents and even fatalities that occur in

Sorsogon City, especially on Magsaysay Street. However, issues with pedestrian accidents

continue to increase affected by pedestrian infrastructure properties in Sorsogon City.

One of the important aspects that may affect these issues is the improper

construction of pedestrian lanes, improper width of shoulders as well as narrow sidewalks.

Regardless of the importance of these variables, there is a lack of information and safety

measures that contribute to uncontrolled pedestrian accidents. Without this understanding,

local government units and safety organizations may struggle to implement effective

measures to lessen pedestrian accidents.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the pedestrian accidents to pedestrian

infrastructure properties in Magsaysay Street Sorsogon City. It precisely aims to discover

the factors contributed by pedestrian infrastructure properties to the uncontrolled

pedestrian accidents involved in Sorsogon City. Dealing with these challenges is critical in

implementing pedestrian safety measures for the improvement of pedestrian properties in

Sorsogon City.

Specifically, the researchers formulated the following questions that aim to address the

above cited problem.

1. What is the sociodemographic profile of pedestrian involved in accidents on

Magsaysay Street?

a.) Age

b.) Sex
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2. What are the common factors involved in pedestrian accidents on Magsaysay

Street?

3. What are the pedestrian properties of pedestrian infrastructure?

4. Correlate pedestrian infrastructure and pedestrian accidents.

5. Based on the findings, researchers will provide to have an action plan for SK3 and

DPWH.

This study will give useful insights into improving pedestrian infrastructure

properties and effective safety measures, resulting in minimizing the reported minor

accidents and fatalities in Magsaysay Street Sorsogon City.

Significance of the Study

The researchers will provide better understanding in the relationship of pedestrian

infrastructure properties to pedestrian accidents in the transportation within Sorsogon City,

specifically Magsaysay Street. Thus, this research study can ultimately contribute to the

improvement of the transportation system and the overall development of the city.

1. Transportation System. The research will provide a valuable information for

transportation system to analyze their current system and identify areas of

improvement. And also, by identifying the contributing factors, agency under

transportation system can implement rules and regulation.

2. Agencies. The results of this study can be beneficial to the agencies in

transportation system in assessing their current situation. For example, does proper

signages are enough around pedestrian infrastructure properties. As well with,

agencies must have an idea to add more pedestrian lanes or infrastructure properties

in roads.

3. Future Researchers. The research study can be useful to future researchers as their

reference in their study.

4. Sorsogon City Community. The research will help Sorsogon City community in

identifying the possible causes of accidents happen in pedestrian infrastructure

properties. And also, the results of this study may help authority in providing

awareness to pedestrian enable to lessen the numbers of accidents.

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Scope and Delimitation

This study dwells on evaluate the relationship of the pedestrian infrastructure

properties to the pedestrian accident rate within Sorsogon City, limited only to the

Magsaysay Street. The research includes various properties of pedestrian infrastructure,

including the poor visibility of crosswalks, uneven shoulders, and narrow sidewalks.

Similarly, the sociodemographic profile (age and sex) involved in the accident and the

contributing factors, such as the behavior of road users, will cover this study. Data will be

gathered through on-site observations and accident reports from January 2022 to December

2024. Researchers started collecting data on January 2022, after the pandemic. The weather

conditions, other road infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle collisions that affect accident

rates will not be included in this study.

Definition of Terms

Carriageway - is a section of a road that is used for vehicular traffic and is not restricted

by physical barriers that would prevent vehicles from moving laterally.

Chicane - is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography

Crossing facilities - are places where pedestrians can cross a road, street, or avenue.

Pedestrians -a person walking along a road or in a developed area.

Pedestrian Crossing / Crosswalks -is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road,

street or avenue.

Raised crossings - have a flat top which is usually level with the footway, and tactile

paving is used at each end of the crossing.

Right of way - (also right-of-way) is a transportation corridor along which people, animals,

vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the

right to do so.

Road Shoulder - paved or graded area on the side of a road that's used for emergencies

and to protect the pavement.

Speed bumps and speed humps - both traffic control devices used to slow down vehicles,

but they differ in size, shape, and where they are typically.
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Traffic - movement of vehicles or people along roads, or the movement of aircraft, trains,

or ships along a route.

Urbanization - process of people moving from rural areas to cities, and the resulting

changes to the physical landscape of urban areas.

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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Review of Related Literature

Pedestrian Infrastructure

According to the study of Adraro Angelo (2023), roads contribute to the nation’s

social infrastructure. Recent studies and literature show that road infrastructure strengthens

and boosts manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and the overall development of a country

by improving its accessibility and mobility. These benefits mention of the road for

socioeconomic development needs proper demand of management to optimize value.

Despite the positive impact approach in providing mobility and accessibility, road traffic

crashes have become a frequent and significant problem in all countries. Thus, integrating

road safety and implementing maintenance planning that shift traditional approaches that

mainly use pavement or concrete conditions as a criterion especially in developing

countries. Pavement conditions are the oriented maintenance planning measure which

prioritizes pedestrians and motorists that overlook road components such as sidewalks,

streetlights, road markings and important crossing facilities in the road.

Novak (2021), suggest that in transforming infrastructure into a pedestrian-friendly

one there’s a lot to consider. Sidewalks should ideally consist of four zones and be

accessible to all. Think about the functioning of traffic lights. Avoid direct road pollution

and provide street safety with simple measures, such as providing street furniture and

directing the route to colorful streets, passing interesting buildings. Provide parking for

cars and create lively streets.

Pedestrian Accident

A study on Turkish road by Yakup Betus (2022), states that when an errant vehicle

runs off the road, crashing into objects/ reaching places in the road creates “run-off-road”

accidents, which may result in severe injuries or death Roadside designs with proper Road

Restraint Systems or RRS ideally should cause neither hazard to the pedestrians nor threats

to the vehicle users. The major components of the RRSs are the Vehicle Restraint Systems

(VRS), including the safety barriers designed to either stop the unexpected vehicle fully or
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slow it down for a safe return to the lane. There are no standardized methods/tools for the

design and application specifications of RRS since they are mostly correlated with the

geometric design standards of the roads, which vary across countries, socio-economic

factors of the road users and infrastructure planning. While city road design principles in

Turkey are mostly adopted from the AASHTO codes in the US, the clear zone concept is

not fully employed in Turkish road designs; it does not follow a standardized cross-section

for different types/functions of roads. Current city roadside designs in Turkey are a mix of

the USA principles embedded into a rule-based approach, which is a simplified version of

the German roadside design approach. This creates a unique challenge in the design and

implementation of the road designs, especially in the absence of the Road Safety Audit

(RSA) process. The high share of RORs in Turkey, in the order of 15%-20% of the fatal

and injury accidents every year, so it is necessary to improve the roadside designs. The

study compares current Turkish practice with a newly proposed roadside design approach

adopted from the UK approach, which also follows the same EN1317 standards for the

RSS and relies on a systematic assessment procedure for major highways. The comparisons

are made over a study corridor of 15 kilometers for the safety barrier along the road. Both

length of needs and locations of the applications are compared between alternative

approaches to understand the differences better. The new approach required the latter

containment level for most sections of the corridor, which provides a lower containment

level than the previous required by the current practice. However, the total length of safety

barriers needed by the new approach was almost 2.5 times the length of the current practice,

showing significant differences between the two approaches. By considering the more

objective evaluation criteria of the proposed approach, a series of recommendations was

provided for improving traffic safety in Turkey via safer roadside designs.

Julián Arellana et al. (2022) stated that it is extremely relevant to comprehending

pedestrian crossing behavior because of the high rates of pedestrian-related crashes on

metropolitan highways. Pedestrians consider expenses and dangers when deciding how to

cross the street. Even though the RP component's trajectories indicate that people prefer

direct crossings, pedestrian bridges and signalized intersections might be appealing

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substitutes if they are located in close proximity to the crossing's origin or destination and

don't require a detour.

Based on the report of the World Health Organization, the annual number of road

traffic deaths fell slightly to 1.19 million per year. In the Philippines, road traffic deaths

increased by 39% from 7,938 deaths in 2011 to 11,096 deaths in the past decade based on

the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Report in 2021. Those who are considered

vulnerable road users are the motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

Based on Heinonen and Eck’s article on Road Traffic Accidents in the Philippines,

the enforcement of a stricter traffic law is included in the initiatives aimed at reducing

traffic accidents. This includes increasing the penalties for violations such as drunk driving,

over speeding, and not wearing helmets.

Contributing Factors

According to Amir Rasouli et al. (2020), predicting pedestrian behavior is one of the

main problems facing intelligent driving systems. Pedestrians frequently display intricate

behaviors that are impacted by a variety of environmental factors. They suggest BiPed, a

multitask learning framework that uses multimodal data to simultaneously predict

pedestrian trajectories and behaviors, as a solution to this issue. Their approach has three

advantages: 1) a bifold encoding approach, in which various data modalities are processed

independently to create their own representations, and jointly to generate a representation

for all modalities using shared parameters; 2) a novel interaction modeling technique that

captures interactions between target pedestrians and their environment using categorical

semantic parsing of the scenes; and 3) a bifold prediction mechanism that employs both

independent and shared decoding of multimodal representations.

Obinguar & Asano (2021), investigates the incidence and severity of pedestrian

crashes on national highways in Metro Manila, Philippines, by presenting road and built

environment feature characteristics. Overall, the results presented increased pedestrian

crashes with major highways, footbridges, bad surface conditions, and with increasing

commercial, residential and industrial roads. Open areas, fair surface conditions, late night

hours, larger car, and older walker increase the fatal consequences of pedestrian crashes. It
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will allow the concerned authorities to find suitable actions for response based on its all-

inclusive overview about pedestrian accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is dedicated to

promoting safe pedestrian and motorist behavior through its pedestrian safety programs.

These programs focus on five main components: Safe People, Safe Speeds, Safe Roads,

Safe Vehicles, and Post-Crash Care. They aim to encourage responsible behavior and

create conditions that prioritize safe travel for all road users. Safe Speeds are promoted

through targeted outreach campaigns and judicious enforcement. Safe Roads accommodate

human mistakes and injury tolerances, while Safe Vehicles prevent crashes and minimize

their Impact. NHTSA also conducts public awareness campaigns like Everyone is a

Pedestrian (NHTSA, 2022).

The rapid growth and development in urban areas has resulted in a drastic increase in

human population as well as vehicular population in most of the metropolitan areas across

the globe. Thakur and Biswas (2022) indicate that there is an unavoidable increase in

conflicts between vehicular traffic and pedestrians often sharing the same road space.

Results showed, at an undesignated crossing, pedestrians wait for a suitable inter-vehicular

gap to cross the road. To reduce the waiting delay, pedestrians often take risks by crossing

with smaller gaps in traffic, increasing the chance of accidents. On the other hand,

pedestrian activities on the road can also disrupt traffic flow. During pedestrian crossing

maneuvers, they often force the approaching vehicle(s) either to slow down or to change

the lane, which reduces the average traffic speed. However, when the pedestrians are

walking along the road, vehicles typically move towards the center of the carriageway to

ensure their safety. Hence, this movement, whether pedestrians are crossing or just walking

along the road, causes traffic to slow down and reduce road capacity, sometimes creating

a safety risk to the road users.

According to the study by Mukherjee and Mitra (2022), examining the role of the built

environment on pedestrian risk perception is the objective of their research, focusing on

the city of Kolkata, India. It showed that an increase in average vehicular speed by 10 km

per hour at a junction is expected to increase the pedestrian fatalities by 50%. If the minor
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road width increases by one unit, the risk of pedestrian fatalities is expected to go up by

7%. The lack of pedestrian signal heads is expected to increase pedestrians’ perceived risk

by 1.2 times, whereas the absence of adequate sight distance is probable to increase

pedestrians’ perceived risk by 2.3 times. Subsequently, a set of beta regression models is

developed to examine pedestrians’ unsafe activities. The results also indicated that

pedestrians using mobile phones while crossing are more likely to violate signals by 1.7

times. Additionally, inaccessible zebra crossing behavior increased by 16% and by 14%,

respectively.

Jeff Craig stated in year 2024 that, pedestrians are accidentally hit due to distracted

driving, speeding, failure to yield, poor lighting, impairment, or left-hand turns. Distracted

driving reduces the chances of being aware of another road user, but speeding tends to

increase the severity of a collision. Poor street lighting reduces the chances of pedestrian

visibility, especially at night. Taking drugs or alcohol decreases the potential chances of a

driver noticing pedestrians. Accidents occur at an intersection when drivers turn left

without checking for pedestrians.

Review of Related Studies

Pedestrian Infrastructure

The environment is one of the major concerns in pedestrian safety. Based from the

study of Byoung-Suk et. al (2021), using different experimental design, pedestrian

environments do affect people’s perception of pedestrian safety and their willingness to

walk. The presence of a sidewalk, buffer strip, and street trees affected parent’s decision to

walk, their willingness let their children walk to school and perceived the environment as

safer for walking. As a result, the researchers suggest that implementing landscape buffers

and planting trees in wide buffers may lead to more walking by improving people’s

perceptions of pedestrian safety. This may lead to improvements in people health by

increasing their walking activity. Creating supportive roadway environments that facilitate

walking should be an important goal for designing pedestrian environments.

According to Özge Ceylin Yıldırım and Elif Çelik (2022), by affecting vibrancy

and attraction, pedestrianized places have a big impact on how people behave, and city
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perceptions and pedestrian behavior can be examined using Cullen's theory. According to

the study, Cullen's theory and spatial arrangement have a complementary effect on

pedestrian movement. Growing rates of urbanization, technological advancements, and

shifting daily routines are all transforming and altering people's experiences, relationships,

interactions, and engagement in the urban realm.

Pedestrian Accidents

According to Marcin Budzynski et al. (2019), pedestrians represent more than 30%

of all of Poland's road traffic fatalities. Pedestrian accidents are usually the result of a

complex situation and a number of contributing factors involving road users, the road and

roadside and the vehicle. Pedestrian accidents are caused by road user error (drivers and

pedestrians) and wrong planning and design. Poorly maintained road infrastructure is also

a very common cause. The objective of the work was to identify risks for pedestrians that

involve road infrastructure and roadside and to define how selected elements of geometry

and traffic layout affect driver behavior. The results have helped to formulate

recommendations on pedestrian crossing design. The research included an analysis of

2013-2017 statistics to identify the circumstances and causes of pedestrian accidents. Field

work at about 2,000 unsignalized pedestrian crossings was the basis for assessing the safety

of these crossings. Various factors were selected and a safety classification was made with

specific suggestions made for possible treatments. More field work was designed to

measure speeds near pedestrian crossings in three cases: no pedestrians in the crossing area,

a pedestrian is approaching a crossing, a pedestrian is waiting to cross the road. The study

was conducted in different areas for different kind of carriageway and the speed was also

included. The share of drivers giving way to pedestrians waiting to cross was also assessed.

Pedestrians were surveyed and asked about how safe they feel crossing the road. The study

analyses show the circumstances and causes of pedestrian accidents. These include driving

across a pedestrian crossing illegally, pedestrians stepping onto the road abruptly, night-

time, excessive speed and others. Pedestrian crossings are the site of more than 30%

pedestrian fatalities which shows the need for treatments. By assessing the hazards caused

by road infrastructure near and at pedestrian crossings, the following hazards could be
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identified: limited sight-distance, poor illumination, excessive speed and no means of speed

management, wrong geometry, technical condition of the road and signage. Speed tests

near pedestrian crossings show that some 40% of drivers do not observe the speed limits

in built-up areas and 30% do not observe the speed limits on rural roads.

According to Arsalan Esmaili et al (2021), traffic accidents involving pedestrians

are common in developing nations. Many of these occurrences end in serious or fatal

injuries because pedestrians are particularly vulnerable. In order to examine Persian

pedestrian habits and comprehend how these behaviors relate to demographic and mobility

factors, the current study sought to validate a pedestrian behavior questionnaire in Iran.

Their study looks at how the technique was developed and put into practice to comprehend

how pedestrian behavior and space relate to one another in Istanbul's Besiktas Koyici

community. Their methodology aims to analyze pedestrian behavior patterns by combining

on-site observations (observing 10 minutes at five different observation points in the

settlement at predetermined times on weekdays and weekends), surveys (determining

pedestrian movement and perception in terms of Cullen's theory), and spatial configuration

(using DepthMapX software to perform Space Syntax analysis (connectivity, integrity)).

Contributing Factors

Sundararajan et al. (2020) conducted a study about the factors that affect pedestrians

to use a crossing facility and the relationship between them. They used Theory of Planned

Behavior (TBP) to explain whether characteristics and attitude influence the pedestrian’s

behavior involved in the accident. They used a questionnaire in gathering data and were

analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, factor analysis, and structural equation

modeling (SEM). The result showed that the most dominant variable of the extended model

TBP is expectation. Moreover, based on the survey, most of the respondents focused on

comfort, convenience, safety, cleanliness, and overall quality of crossing facilities.

Furthermore, more people accepted that crossing facilities are a great option to cross the

road safely. Thus, pedestrians’ expectations are high toward proper crossing facilities. With

that, authorities should improve the design infrastructure to attract more pedestrians to use
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the crossing, and there is a need to provide sufficient signal time for pedestrians to cross

the street safely.

Tricycle drivers have a significant role in the daily lives of passengers and

pedestrians. Aydinan (2020) states that it is substantial that they are fully aware and

knowledgeable of the traffic rules and regulations to avoid and minimize the risk of road

accidents. Drivers are neither innocent nor ignorant of the laws; however, not in all times

they are compliant. Researchers suggest a strict implementation of the driver’s license

scheme and the avoidance of bribery and having fixers during the processing.

Haghighi et. al (2021), conducted a mixed-method study with two phases: a

quantitative cross-sectional study serves as the first phase through self-report and the

results of the quantitative phase serve as the second phase during individual interviews (as

the qualitative phase) to explore the strategies to promote the safety behaviors of

pedestrians. Based from the quantitative phase, the residents acquired more than 62% of

the maximum possible score in all constructs. Among all the domains, aggressive behaviors

(85.6%), distractive behaviors (77.2%), violation (21.56%) and PSBs (70.5%) were found

with the highest scores. In qualitative phase, the strategies to promote pedestrian safety

were explored and grouped into four main categories: building public education policies

on traffic safety, developing traffic safety infrastructure, improving the traffic

managements system, and strengthening urban safety legislation.

According to the study of Budzynski et. al (2019), through field tests and survey

studies that carried out in 70 test points in Poland’s Pomorskie and Malopolskie regions,

across an area that is diversified in terms of its development. Based from the results, this

study of driver and pedestrian behavior in pedestrian crossing areas showed that vehicle

speeds vary depending on the location –type of area, type of cross-section, section

characteristics and pedestrian crossing control and on the presence or absence of traffic

lights. The study showed that speed limits are frequently exceeded near pedestrian

crossings. Researcher suggest that more research on pedestrian safety is required and

should be specifically aimed at identifying pedestrian crossing hazards, assessing the

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effectiveness of treatments and assessing pedestrian and driver behavior on a regular basis

by covering more parameters.

Walking is one or I’ll wait for moving the most population, but in recent years in

developing countries such as Serbia that there have been more pedestrian accidents to

traffic. Macro-level road safety study to be able to identify the factors that play important

role in creating pedestrian safety policies. The study by the team of Milos Pljakic, 2022

clusters it in a four section which is called method, results, conclusions and application in

which it greatly applied in identifying the root cause of pedestrian accidents. Method, in

this section the study analyzes the impact of traffic characteristics on pedestrian accidents

on the level of heavy traffic. The study applied a geographically weighted regression

approach to identify and analyze all factors that contribute to oncoming pedestrian

congestion. At the result section by using the Poisson weighted model showed 10

statistically significant factors influencing pedestrian accidents. The exposure measure

indicates that the positive relationship with pedestrian accidents was in correlation with the

length of the state road, the length of unclassified streets, as well as the numbers of bus

stops, parking space, and other object units. The Conclusion made base on the results

indicate the importance of determining the categorization and function of roads in places

where pedestrian flows are, as well as the view of pedestrian safety near bus stops and

parking spaces. The application of the results of this study can help traffic safety engineers

and managers plan infrastructure measures for future pedestrian safety planning and

management in order to reduce pedestrian casualties and increase their physical activity.

Pedestrian crossings are one of the crucial areas since it is where pedestrians and

vehicles interact. Given the high speed and weight of the vehicles, it’s important for both

drivers and pedestrians to be extra careful to prevent accidents. Krizsik and Sipos (2024)

research aims to identify the factors affecting the drivers’ willingness to yield the right of

way. Their study involved on-site investigations in which they recorded all situations where

there was an interaction of pedestrians and vehicles. The collected data were analyzed using

both descriptive statistics and a discrete decision model. Results showed that the drivers’

willingness to stop depends on distractions. The primary distraction for drivers was talking
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to passengers. While for pedestrians, the most common distraction was wearing

headphones. The distractors on the part of pedestrians slightly increase the drivers’

willingness to stop, while distractors on the part of drivers strongly decrease the willingness

to yield. In addition, the study showed that distractions from both sides result in the lowest

willingness to yield the right of way. Furthermore, it showed in the study that driver

behavior depends on the gender, age, and behavior of pedestrians.

Gap bridged by the study

Many studies have looked into the importance of pedestrian infrastructure for safe

mobility, there’s a noticeable gap in understanding the specific ways that poor design can

lead to accidents. Most existing research focuses either on general road safety features, like

traffic signals and barriers, or on how pedestrians behave, such as their habits when

crossing streets (Betus,2022; Arellana et al., 2022). However, issues like narrow sidewalks,

poor lighting, and the lack of safe crossing points are often overlooked, even though they

are common problems in busy urban areas (Buzynski et al., 2019). These design flaws may

play a bigger role in accidents than current studies suggest.

This research aims to fill that gap by examining how these specific infrastructure

shortcomings contribute to higher accident rates. By taking a closer look at the impact of

poorly designed pedestrian spaces, this study hopes to offer new insights that can help

urban planners and policymakers make streets safer and more accessible for everyone

especially in Magsaysay Street Sorsogon City.

Conceptual Framework

Researchers utilized a system approach as seen in Figure 1.1 to formulate the study

procedure, where numerous components undergo a transformative process to generate the

desired outcome. The provided data, input and process to be conducted that will gives a

desired output, integrated into the conceptual framework.

In terms of input, researchers used pedestrian infrastructure properties such as

sidewalks, crosswalks and shoulders to identify the impact implied of this on the pedestrian

safety. Pedestrian accidents also considered in terms of the age and sex identified
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experienced accidents. Contributing factors such as pedestrian and driver behavior as one

of the contributors of accidents in pedestrian.

Researchers integrated the process in data collection on pedestrian accidents and

infrastructure properties by conducting observation, survey questionnaire and data analysis

for the numbers of pedestrian accidents.

By employing the system approach, researchers successfully guided the study

process from input to output which will come up to have an enhanced pedestrian facility,

improved pedestrian safety and raised awareness among road users for the sustainability

and improvement of road infrastructure properties in Magsaysay Street in Sorsogon City.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

• Pedestrian
• Data • Enhanced
Infrastructure
collection on Pedestrian
Properties
pedestrian Facilities
(Sidewalks,
accidents and • Improved
crosswalks,
infrastructure pedestrian
shoulders)
properties safety
• Pedestrian
• Data analysis • Raised
Accident (Age
• Observation awareness
and Gender)
• Survey among road
• Contributing
Questionnaire users
Factors
(Pedestrian
behavior, Driver
Behavior)

Feedback
Figure 1.1: Conceptual Framework
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Chapter 3

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Research Method

This research will utilize a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and

qualitative data to provide a comprehensive understanding of the issue being studied. This

involves collecting statistical data and descriptive information through various methods

such as observations, interviews, and accident report analysis. By integrating these

methods, researchers can obtain a complete picture of the relationship between the

variables, as they will use different data sources in obtaining the result. Furthermore, this

approach ensures that the study is well supported by various and credible evidence.

Research Design

In this part, researchers utilized methods such as observation and interviews

wherein it aims to find answer to the objectives of this study and to gather information on

the population being studied.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between pedestrian infrastructure on

Magsaysay Street and the number of accidents occurring there. The research will use a

combination of descriptive and correlational research approaches, focusing on identifying

and evaluating the state of pedestrian infrastructure and how these features influence

accident rates. The study will focus on Magsaysay Street, an urban area known for its high

pedestrian and vehicle activity.

Pedestrian accidents have become a major problem that requires an inquiry into the

causes and possible solutions because they cause serious injuries, fatalities and financial

losses. Data gathering and analysis will be used to determine the causes of pedestrian

accidents on Magsaysay Street. To find characteristics like peak hours and high-risk areas,

past traffic accident information will be examined. Field observations will be made to

assess the physical and functional characteristic of pedestrian infrastructure, gather

accident data from local traffic authorities, police reports, and public records, and

incorporate the perspectives of pedestrians, drivers and experts. Interviews with traffic
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authorities and urban planners will provide context regarding the design and maintenance

of the street’s infrastructure.

Additionally, this study aims to correlate the characteristics and areas of pedestrian

infrastructure that are more likely to increase accidents and likewise decrease the count of

casualties. Two methods will be used in conducting and collecting the needed data to be

interpreted, in which the target recipients would be the person or group of people who uses

and utilizes Magsaysay Street at Sorsogon City.

The researchers will thoroughly observe and indicate the full length and facilities of

roads and streets by walking along to assess the pedestrian infrastructure to conclude and

devise their own theory or basis. Researchers will also conduct direct interviews with the

said recipients. With the laid questionnaire handed to them, the researchers will conduct a

short interview after answering the paper to be able to gather data that isn’t covered in the

questionnaire. In this approach, the researchers aim to accumulate and hear other

suggestions, opinions, and concerns to be input and correlate the latter data in the

conclusion.

The collected data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics to summarize the state

of pedestrian infrastructure and the frequency of accidents, and statistical tools like

correlation analysis to explore the relationship between infrastructure features and accident

rates.

Since the research will be directly in conduct and will spend time with the recipients,

ethical considerations will be prioritized throughout the research process, with participants

informed about the purpose of the study and consent obtained before their input is

collected. With different kinds of people ranging from sex, different approaches will be

observed by the researchers to attain data correlating pedestrian infrastructures and

accidents.

Based on the findings of this study, recommendations will be developed, including

infrastructure improvements. Educational campaigns can be proposed to raise awareness

among pedestrians and drivers, alongside policy recommendations for stricter regulations

to protect pedestrians. Feedback from local authorities, community leaders, and residents,
 20

will be sought to add to the proposals given. A feasibility assessment will then evaluate the

cost, practicality, and potential impact of each intervention, prioritizing measures with the

highest potential to reduce accidents.

Statistical Treatment of the Study

The research will employ various techniques to analyze and interpret the data to be

gathered, including but not limited to frequency distribution and correlational analysis.

The frequency distribution is a statistical technique used to arrange a collection

of data to show how frequently different values or groups of values occur. Frequency tables

and graphs are used to represent it.

The correlational analysis is a technique that is used to assess the strength and

direction of a relationship between variables. It investigates how variables are related

without the researcher manipulating any of them.

One of the key components of correlational analysis is the correlation coefficient,

which quantifies the relationship between two variables. The values range from -1 to 1.

a. A correlation coefficient of -1 describes a negative or inverse correlation.

b. A correlation coefficient of 1 represents a positive or direct correlation.

c. A coefficient of 0 means there is no linear relationship.

 21

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