Kommersant learned about changes to GOST to reduce the number of accidents involving pedestrians
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New requirements for pedestrian safety will become mandatory for road workers and traffic organizers, Kommersant found out. We are talking about a specialized GOST, which determines, among other things, to what extent to limit the speed of vehicles in front of unregulated crossings, how to set up traffic lights in the pedestrian phase, where to install additional traffic cameras and how to establish conflict regulation of the simultaneous movement of pedestrians and turning cars.
GOST R 70716-2023 with requirements for pedestrian safety standards was developed by the Russian Road Research Institute (RosdorNII) in 2021–2022 and came into force on May 1, 2023. The standard describes action scenarios to reduce the number of accidents involving pedestrians. For example, it indicates speed limits in front of unregulated crossings: 20 km/h – in residential areas, 30 km/h – on streets and local roads, etc. The standard provides a formula for calculating the interval for turning on the permissive traffic light signal for pedestrians, The typical appearance and location of buttons for calling a green traffic light signal are indicated. GOST also contains a recommendation to install automatic cameras for recording violations in places where there is an “increased” risk of accidents with pedestrians. Here you can also find instructions for organizing conflict regulation (simultaneous movement of pedestrians and turning cars in the same traffic light phase).
Currently the standard is advisory in nature, but in the future its requirements will become mandatory. This is planned to be done by making amendments to government order 2438-r, the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Kommersant. The order lists mandatory standards in the field of traffic safety. Separate provisions of GOST will be introduced there (they are still being discussed). The police explained that this will improve the level of traffic safety when driving through pedestrian crossings: “The main task is to preserve the life and health of citizens participating in road traffic, which can be solved, among other things, by using new methods of road design and traffic management.”
According to the traffic police, over the eight months of 2023, 20.8 thousand accidents occurred in the Russian Federation, as a result of which pedestrians were injured (+0.3% compared to the same period last year). Most such incidents were recorded in Moscow (1.6 thousand), Krasnodar Territory (966) and St. Petersburg (935).
The rules regarding the choice of locations for crossings, the construction of sidewalks and pedestrian paths, the construction and equipment of safety islands, and ensuring the safety of pedestrians in residential areas and courtyards should be made mandatory, according to RosdorNII.
The government order should also include standards regulating the operating modes of the pedestrian phase call board and the rules for combining artificial uneven surfaces with surface pedestrian crossings, the institute believes.
“The practical implementation of the above requirements will reduce the number of victims among the most vulnerable group of road users,” according to RosdorNII.
Independent experts were wary of the idea of the traffic police: the standard itself raises a lot of questions, and it is not clear which norms will be mandatory. The head of the Union of Pedestrians, Vladimir Sokolov, cites as an example the rules described in GOST, which allow unregulated crossings on highways depending on the intensity of vehicle traffic and speed limits (for example, on a three-lane road with traffic of more than 15 thousand cars per day, such a crossing is allowed, but on four-lane with the same intensity is no longer possible). At the same time, the number of pedestrians passing through the crossing is not taken into account, says Mr. Sokolov, and it is also not taken into account that most drivers exceed the established limit by 20 km/h (due to the “non-fine threshold”).
The expert also draws attention to “useful” provisions of the standard that can be made mandatory, for example, rules for the use of raised pedestrian crossings and methods for improving the visibility of traffic islands.
Leading specialist of the Directorate for Traffic Management, Dmitry Popov, on the contrary, considers raised crossings to be an ineffective means: cars should slow down before the zebra crossing, and not at it.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs only noted that they are still collecting “reasonable” comments and suggestions. The department did not give specific development dates.
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