A new study shows that older pedestrians are at risk of being knocked down if they use a marked crosswalk without traffic signals or stop signs.
Older adults have the highest pedestrian mortality rates, because it takes them longer to cross the road and so they have more exposure to oncoming traffic. They tend to be less agile and so less likely to get out of the way when they do encounter a vehicle.

Researchers at the University of Washington have been looking at what happens when people cross the road on a marked cross walk where there are no traffic signals or stop signs. These places are potentially dangerous because the pedestrian assumes it's safe to cross, but the driver will be reading the road signals. If there are no stop signs or other warning signals, they may not stop at the crossing.

This study revealed that when older pedestrians cross at one of these points, they run a 3.6 times higher risk of being knocked down compared to those who cross where there are traffic signs. The researchers identified 282 cases where a pedestrian over 65 was struck at a crossing and they analysed these cases with respect to the nature of the crossing place. They conclude it may not make the roads safer for pedestrians by merely creating more marked crossways. These need to be combined with traffic signals.