The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has produced a report that quantifies the obvious: it is easier for drivers to see pedestrians at night if crosswalks are lighted. Specifically, the study found that drivers were three times as likely to yield to pedestrians at night when they use crosswalks that are illuminated.

Add flashing yellow warning beacons and the likelihood that drivers will stop for pedestrians explodes by a factor of 13 times.

Researchers from the IIHS and Western Michigan University compared the effects of different crosswalk lighting systems at two T intersections, one four-way intersection, and a midblock location in Kalamazoo, Michigan. None of these intersections had a traffic light or even a stop sign.

One of the T intersections had flashing yellow lights that lit when a pedestrian pressed the button to activate them. The mid-block location was illuminated by streetlights that provided the 20 lux of light that is recommended by federal government guidelines while the intersections were unlit, with lighting levels of less than 3 lux.

Adding either crosswalk lighting or flashing yellow beacons boosted driver recognition of the crosswalk but using them both together doubled the effect of using either alone. According to the IIHS, this is because the crosswalk lighting is helpful for showing the pedestrians while the flashing lights are good for communicating the presence of a crosswalk, but when drivers understand there is a crosswalk and can see the person in it they are more responsive.

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“Solutions aren’t always complicated,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “We can stop pedestrians from being killed if we make sure drivers see them — but first city planners and road designers have to see the light.”

About 75 percent of the 7,522 pedestrians killed in road crashes in 2022 died in the dark, demonstrating the potential benefit of lighting the places where pedestrians cross roads. In the test, intersections were outfitted with LED crosswalk illuminators that put 20 lux of light across the road, with tests both in constant mode and when activated by pedestrians.

Drivers slowed by more than 10 mph at the illuminated crosswalks whether they yielded to the pedestrian or not. At the already-lit mid-block crosswalk adding the crosswalk lighting made no difference in drivers’ behavior.

“These results show that crosswalk lighting and flashing beacons make pedestrians substantially safer in poorly lit areas,” said study author Wen Hu, IIHS senior research transportation engineer. “Along with lower speed limits and road designs that discourage speeding, these simple solutions have the potential to reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities.”

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