Hull To Trial Innovative New Pedestrian Crossing

An innovative new pedestrian crossing to help reduce accidents will be installed in Hull.

The project is being delivered in partnership with Liverpool City Council who have been awarded just over £193,000 by the Road Safety Trust.

Liverpool and Hull have some of the highest rates of pedestrian casualties in the UK, with 48 casualties per 100,000 people in Liverpool and 38 casualties per 100,000 in Hull.

Both local authorities will be trialling two new experimental pedestrian crossings, with an observational study to test a method called ‘nudge’, which effectively nudges pedestrians to walk to a crossing located near to them and encourages them to use it correctly.

Councillor Anita Harrison, portfolio holder for Streetscene at Hull City Council, said: “We are pleased to be part of this innovative project which complements the council’s road safety strategy that was launched in March earlier this year.

“We hope that this targeted intervention will help to support some of our most vulnerable road users and improve overall road safety, in order to have an impact on achieving low levels of casualty reduction that are long-lasting.

“Ultimately, we want to provide a transport network that is easy, convenient and safe for people to travel around the city, and by working closely with the Road Safety Trust and Liverpool City Council,  Hull will play a crucial part in a wider approach in helping to reduce pedestrian casualties on the roads.”

The two-year project is currently in the development phase and is being delivered alongside the Road Safety Trust, behavioural science company So-Mo and data company Agilysis, with the intention of initiating trials in early 2021.

Sally Lines, Chief Executive of Road Safety Trust said: “The standard of applications was really high in 2019 with over 20 applications received under the theme ‘Innovative traffic calming and provision for vulnerable road users’.

“We are pleased to be able to provide Liverpool City Council with funding to help achieve our vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on UK roads. We want to make the roads safer for all users in particularly vulnerable road users which includes pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.”

The Road Safety Trust is the largest independent road safety grant giver in the UK and funds vital research and practical interventions committed to reducing the number of people killed or injured on UK roads. Since it was established in 2014, the Road Safety Trust has awarded grants worth £3.7m to 49 different projects. 

Nicola Wass CEO So-Mo said;

“We are taking an imaginative, intelligent approach to road safety.  These crossings have been informed by behavioural science, which means that they have been designed with a deeper understanding of the people who use them.  The point of doing a trial before launching any new crossings is that it allows us to know, with certainty whether these new elements work or not and also we can expect to achieve similar results in other UK cities.”