Are marked crosswalks safer?
Many studies have been performed in an attempt to determine the effectiveness of marked crosswalks in increasing pedestrian safety. The results generally indicate that there is no safety benefit associated with installing a crosswalk on a two-lane roadway, and in fact marking a crossing across a four-lane, high volume roadway may result in a less safe condition for pedestrians. This is because pedestrians tend to be less cautious at a marked crossing, and because a driver yielding to a pedestrian on a four-lane roadway may block the view of the pedestrian to a motorist approaching in an adjacent lane, who fails to yield and then strikes the pedestrian.
