Citation

Ewing R, Dumbaugh E. J. Plann. Lit. 2009; 23(4): 347-367.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0885412209335553

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The article reaches two conclusions counter to accepted transportation engineering theory. First, the traffic environments of dense urban areas appear to be safer than the lower-volume environments of the suburbs. The reason is that many fewer miles are driven on a per capita basis, and the driving that is done is at lower speeds that are less likely to produce fatal crashes. Second, at least in dense urban areas, less-"forgiving" design treatments—such as narrow lanes, traffic-calming measures, and street trees close to the roadway—appear to enhance a roadway's safety performance when compared to more conventional roadway designs. The reason for this apparent anomaly may be that less-forgiving designs provide drivers with clear information on safe and appropriate operating speeds.