Identification of factors increasing the risk of pedestrian death in road accidents involving a pedestrian with a motor vehicle

Walking is a basic form of activity for every human being and has many advantages, including health, economic and environmental benefits. Every journey made using various means of transport begins and ends on foot. As is well known, the group of road users particularly exposed to the risk of serious injury in road accidents, apart from cyclists, also includes pedestrians. These are the so-called vulnerable road users. Pedestrians are a group of road users that is often deprecated by many drivers of motor vehicles, but very important in road traffic. Pedestrian injuries and pedestrian fatalities have enormous social and economic consequences. The problem of high pedestrian risk on Polish roads is well known and has been widely described in the scientific literature last few years. However, the reasons for this state of affairs have not been fully explained, as evidenced by the statistics of road traffic incidents. Despite many studies in this area, the causes indicated in the research often differ depending on the area of analysis, the environment in which the incident took place, location, participants of the incident, environmental conditions, behaviorism and many other features. Therefore, the main goal of the article was to determine the factors influencing the formation of fatalities in road traffic accidents among pedestrians in accidents involving pedestrians and motor vehicles in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland) in 2016-2021. The logit model presented in the article allowed for the conclusion that the main attributes influencing the increasing the risk of pedestrian death in road accidents involving a pedestrian with a motor vehicle include such features as driving under the influence of alcohol by the driver, exceeding the speed limit by the vehicle driver, when the road incident involves a heavy vehicle (truck, bus), a pedestrian is a male, pedestrian is over 60 years old, is under the influence of alcohol, the incident took place outside built-up area, at night, i.e. from 10:00 p.m. up to 6:00 a.m, in other than good weather conditions. The obtained results can be used in various activities, campaigns aimed at improving the safety of pedestrian traffic in the area of the analysis.