When reconstructing pedestrian impacts, it is important to identify the time to impact available. One of the assumptions when calculating the time to impact is the speed of the pedestrian. Although the majority of pedestrian collisions (including fatalities) occur midblock, most of the research conducted for pedestrian speeds is based on pedestrians travelling in a controlled environment (i.e. crosswalks, sidewalks, etc.).
When a pedestrian is crossing midblock or “jay-walking,” there may be a sense of urgency for the pedestrian due to approaching vehicles. The sense of urgency is dependent upon the proximity of vehicles that are approaching, and/or the lane of the approaching vehicle with respect to the pedestrian. In this study, 304 pedestrian movements were analyzed, as they crossed midblock across traffic. Pedestrian speeds in relation to the accepted gap and the positioning of approaching vehicles were analyzed.