IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i6p2066-d334855.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Qualitative Field Observation of Pedestrian Injury Hotspots: A Mixed-Methods Approach for Developing Built- and Socioeconomic-Environmental Risk Signatures

Author

Listed:
  • Nadine Schuurman

    (Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada)

  • Blake Byron Walker

    (Institut für Geographie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Wetterkreuz 15, 91058 Erlangen, Germany)

  • David Swanlund

    (Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada)

  • Ofer Amram

    (Spokane Health Education and Research Building Third Floor, P O Box 1495, Spokane, WA 99210-1495, Canada)

  • Natalie L. Yanchar

    (Pediatric General Surgery, Alberta Children’s Hospital, 28 Oki Drive NW, Calgary, AB T3B 6A8, Canada)

Abstract

Road traffic injuries constitute a significant global health burden; the World Health Organization estimates that they result in 1.35 million deaths annually. While most pedestrian injury studies rely predominantly on statistical modelling, this paper argues for a mixed-methods approach combining spatial analysis, environmental scans, and local knowledge for assessing environmental risk factors. Using data from the Nova Scotia Trauma Registry, severe pedestrian injury cases and ten corresponding hotspots were mapped across the Halifax Regional Municipality. Using qualitative observation, quantitative environmental scans, and a socioeconomic deprivation index, we assessed hotspots over three years to identify key social- and built-environmental correlates. Injuries occurred in a range of settings; however, clear patterns were not observed based on land use, age, or socio-economic status (SES) alone. Three hotspots revealed an association between elevated pedestrian injury and a pattern of geographic, environmental, and socio-economic factors: low- to middle-SES housing separated from a roadside attraction by several lanes of traffic, and blind hills/bends. An additional generalized scenario was constructed representing common risk factors across all hotspots. This study is unique in that it moves beyond individual measures (e.g., statistical, environmental scans, or geographic information systems (GIS) mapping) to combine all three methods toward identifying environmental features associated with pedestrian motor vehicle crashes (PMVC).

Suggested Citation

  • Nadine Schuurman & Blake Byron Walker & David Swanlund & Ofer Amram & Natalie L. Yanchar, 2020. "Qualitative Field Observation of Pedestrian Injury Hotspots: A Mixed-Methods Approach for Developing Built- and Socioeconomic-Environmental Risk Signatures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-15, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:6:p:2066-:d:334855
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/6/2066/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/6/2066/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sebert Kuhlmann, A.K. & Brett, J. & Thomas, D. & Sain, S.R., 2009. "Environmental characteristics associated with pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions in Denver, Colorado," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(9), pages 1632-1637.
    2. G. Yannis & E. Papadimitriou & A. Theofilatos, 2013. "Pedestrian gap acceptance for mid-block street crossing," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(5), pages 450-462, July.
    3. Dai, Dajun, 2012. "Identifying clusters and risk factors of injuries in pedestrian–vehicle crashes in a GIS environment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 206-214.
    4. Morency, P. & Gauvin, L. & Plante, C. & Fournier, M. & Morency, C., 2012. "Neighborhood social inequalities in road traffic injuries: The influence of traffic volume and road design," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(6), pages 1112-1119.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alireza Mohammadi & Behzad Kiani & Hassan Mahmoudzadeh & Robert Bergquist, 2023. "Pedestrian Road Traffic Accidents in Metropolitan Areas: GIS-Based Prediction Modelling of Cases in Mashhad, Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Grisé, Emily & Buliung, Ron & Rothman, Linda & Howard, Andrew, 2018. "A geography of child and elderly pedestrian injury in the City of Toronto, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 321-329.
    2. Stephanie Pratt & Kyla Hagan-Haynes, 2023. "Applying a Health Equity Lens to Work-Related Motor Vehicle Safety in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(20), pages 1-23, October.
    3. Rosenlieb, Evan G. & McAndrews, Carolyn & Marshall, Wesley E. & Troy, Austin, 2018. "Urban development patterns and exposure to hazardous and protective traffic environments," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 125-134.
    4. Badland, Hannah & Pearce, Jamie, 2019. "Liveable for whom? Prospects of urban liveability to address health inequities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 94-105.
    5. Chen, Zhiwei & Li, Xiaopeng, 2021. "Unobserved heterogeneity in transportation equity analysis: Evidence from a bike-sharing system in southern Tampa," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Wafaa Saleh & Monika Grigorova & Samia Elattar, 2020. "Pedestrian Road Crossing at Uncontrolled Mid-Block Locations: Does the Refuge Island Increase Risk?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    7. Liu, Jinli & Das, Subasish & Zhan, F. Benjamin & Khan, Md Nasim, 2024. "Spatial analysis of geographical disparities in pedestrian safety," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 164-181.
    8. Prato, Carlo G. & Kaplan, Sigal & Patrier, Alexandre & Rasmussen, Thomas K., 2019. "Integrating police reports with geographic information system resources for uncovering patterns of pedestrian crashes in Denmark," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 10-23.
    9. Jung, Soyoung & Qin, Xiao & Oh, Cheol, 2016. "Improving strategic policies for pedestrian safety enhancement using classification tree modeling," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 53-64.
    10. Elizabeth Delmelle & Jean-Claude Thill & Hoe-Hun Ha, 2012. "Spatial epidemiologic analysis of relative collision risk factors among urban bicyclists and pedestrians," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 433-448, March.
    11. Ke Nie & Zhensheng Wang & Qingyun Du & Fu Ren & Qin Tian, 2015. "A Network-Constrained Integrated Method for Detecting Spatial Cluster and Risk Location of Traffic Crash: A Case Study from Wuhan, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-16, March.
    12. Jiaming Shi & Changxu Wu & Xiuying Qian, 2020. "The Effects of Multiple Factors on Elderly Pedestrians’ Speed Perception and Stopping Distance Estimation of Approaching Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-16, June.
    13. Kun Wang & Liang Xu & Han Jiang, 2022. "Analysis of the Effect of Human-Machine Co-Driving Vehicle on Pedestrian Crossing Speed at Uncontrolled Mid-Block Road Sections: A VR-Based Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-12, June.
    14. Chen, Qun & Wang, Yan, 2015. "Cellular automata (CA) simulation of the interaction of vehicle flows and pedestrian crossings on urban low-grade uncontrolled roads," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 432(C), pages 43-57.
    15. Firth, Caislin L. & Hosford, Kate & Winters, Meghan, 2021. "Who were these bike lanes built for? Social-spatial inequities in Vancouver's bikeways, 2001–2016," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    16. Chen, Cong & Zhang, Su & Zhang, Guohui & Bogus, Susan M. & Valentin, Vanessa, 2014. "Discovering temporal and spatial patterns and characteristics of pavement distress condition data on major corridors in New Mexico," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 148-158.
    17. Loidl, Martin & Traun, Christoph & Wallentin, Gudrun, 2016. "Spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of urban bicycle crashes—A case study from Salzburg (Austria)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 38-50.
    18. Hanning, Cooper & Jerrett, Michael & Su, Jason G. & Wolch, Jennifer, 2012. "Safe Routes to Play? Pedestrian and Bicyclist Crashes Near Parks in the Los Angeles Region," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2st3m2cv, University of California Transportation Center.
    19. Miao, Congcong & Chen, Xiang & Zhang, Chuanrong, 2024. "Assessing network-based traffic crash risk using prospective space-time scan statistic method," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    20. Hei Gao & Zike Xu & Yu Chen & Yutian Lu & Jian Lin, 2022. "Walking Environment and Obesity: A Gender-Specific Association Study in Shanghai," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-16, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:6:p:2066-:d:334855. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.