The Vulnerable Pedestrian: A Multi Dimensional Problem Based on the Israeli Experience
Economically Israel is considered a developed country. Yet its crash statistics are not consistently similar to those of other developed countries. Its pedestrian fatalities - at approximately 35% of all traffic fatalities - are abnormally high for its level of motorization.An in-depth analyses was conducted to compare the two groups in terms of their involvement in rural versus urban crashes, daytime versus nighttime crashes, time of day and behavior of the pedestrian immediately prior to the crash. The analyses look at the absolute numbers, the percentages within the age group the religious affiliation, and the rate relative to the size of the specific sub-populations in Israel. The results reveal that differences in crash involvement are due to both exposure variables (numbers in the population) as well as to demographic differences (level of urbanization and living conditions) and behavioral/cultural differences related to different social norms in the two groups.
