What do you think about pedestrian safety in your neighborhood? And what do you do—as a driver and as a pedestrian—to make it safer to walk in Seattle?
SDOT recently asked these questions and a lot more, of 700 Seattle residents as part of a knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) survey. The purpose? To find out what people think about a certain topic and to learn how well this knowledge translates into “good” behaviors. The results will be used to develop a pedestrian safety education campaign later this year. 
The good news – more than half (54%) of Seattle residents don’t think pedestrian safety is a problem. In general, women and older residents tend to be more concerned about pedestrian safety than men and younger residents, and people living downtown (the most regular walkers) are more concerned than those living in the northern part of Seattle (the most regular drivers).
We’re still digging through all the great data we collected, but a few of the preliminary results show that knowledge and behavior aren’t always in line with each other. Almost 70% of drivers think they do enough to keep pedestrians safe; however, 57% make right turns at red lights when a pedestrian is less than a lane away, and 27% don’t always stop for pedestrians waiting to cross the street. When it comes to pedestrians’ behavior, nearly 80% of walkers think they take enough precautions to stay safe when walking. Yet, 71% say they regularly start crossing an intersection after the “don’t walk” or countdown signal starts flashing.
Finally, the majority of people were very concerned about both driver and pedestrian inattention, and about half indicated that human behavior plays a bigger role in pedestrian safety than the design of intersections. SDOT will continue to work daily to improve transportation safety in Seattle, including implementing the City’s new Pedestrian Master Plan. But, remember to do your part to keep yourself, and others safe: be an attentive and courteous driver, pedestrian, and cyclist…and follow the rules of the road.
To learn more about the KAB survey, check out this recent story from the PI.com or listen to SDOT’s Barbara Gray on KUOW’s “The Conversation.”
SPD crosswalk emphasis patrol on Stone Way and 41st – important enforcement strategy, and it shows a car failing to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk