This study examined the effects of a one-year high visibility pedestrian right-of-way enforcement
program on yielding to pedestrians at uncontrolled crosswalks, some of which received
enforcement and some of which that did not. The program included four 2-week enforcement
waves, supported by education and engineering components that increased the visibility of
enforcement. The study produced six results. 1. Enforcement led to a slow and steady increase in
the percentage of drivers yielding right-of-way to pedestrians over the year. 2. The program
produced a large change in yielding over the course of the year. 3. The program produced higher
levels of yielding to natural pedestrian crossings than to staged crossing and the changes in both
were highly correlated. 4.The effects of the program generalized to crosswalks that were not
targeted for pedestrian right-of-way enforcement. 5.The amount of generalization to unenforced
sites was inversely proportional to the distance from sites that received enforcement.
TRB