Pedestrian gaits observed from actual pedestrian-vehicle collisions

The problem of injury protection for pedestrian is a research hot spot in traffic safety, and simulations are important research tools. In the process of design of simulation experiments, pedestrian gaits become more and more important. Hence in the research three pedestrian gait serials (walking, running and emergency) were found through observing and reconstructing 150 vehicle-pedestrian collision videos. Further studies had found that pedestrian speed and pedestrian injury are different among the three gait serials and there is significant difference between the Pedestrian Speed Before the Collision (PSBC) and the Pedestrian Speed at the Instant of the Collision (PSIC) in the same gait serial; for the emergency gait serial, there is significant difference between the estimated and reconstructed pedestrian heights; and there is high relevance between angles of the left extremities and the corresponding right extremities. Furthermore, based on results observed from the 150 videos and those existing research results, ten pedestrian gaits in each gait serial were proposed, simulation results shown that the pedestrian injury in different gait serial and in different gaits in the same gait serial are all different. The observed pedestrian gaits will help us to design a more objective simulation experiments in the future in analyzing pedestrian injury.

Automated summary

The problem of injury protection for pedestrians is a popular topic in traffic safety research, and simulations play an important role. By observing and reconstructing 150 vehicle-pedestrian collision videos, three different pedestrian gait series (walking, running, and emergency) were identified. Results showed that pedestrian speed and injury vary among the different gait series, and there is a significant difference between pedestrian speed before and at the instant of collision in the same gait series. Furthermore, ten pedestrian gaits in each gait series were proposed based on the observed results, and simulation outcomes revealed different levels of pedestrian injury in different gait series and gaits within the same gait series. The observed pedestrian gaits will contribute to the design of more objective simulation experiments for analyzing pedestrian injury in the future.