Streets rated as boring or depressing correlate with higher volumes of non-motorist car injuries compared with streets rated beautiful. More than 81,000 volunteers evaluated Google Street View images from 56 cities, and recurring perceptions matched locations with actual crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists. Volunteers reliably assessed whether a road felt "safe" for walking and biking. Streets perceived as wealthier tended to have lower crash volumes, likely related to better sidewalks, bike lanes, and lighting. Streets described as lively showed higher crash counts, possibly reflecting greater numbers of people present.
Streets that road users find boring and depressing are more likely to be the site of higher volumes of non-motorist car injuries than ones they rate as beautiful, a new study finds - and to be proactive about saving lives, transportation leaders might be wise to consider how their residents feel on their streets, in addition to how often they get hurt.
Researchers at the University of Connecticut recently analyzed the emotional reactions of more than 81,000 volunteers to a trove of Google Street View images from 56 cities around the world - and found that certain recurring perceptions correlated tightly with how many car crashes involving vulnerable road users actually happened where those photos were taken. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the participants were pretty good at gauging whether a road was "safe" for walking and biking
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