The topic of the use of mobile devices and headphones on pedestrian crossings is much less explored in comparison to the use of the mobile phone while driving. Recent years have seen many discussions on this issue, especially in foreign countries. The Slovak Republic, however, has not been giving it enough attention (and it is not mentioned in the National Road Safety Plan for the Slovak Republic from 2011 to 2020). This paper aims to draw attention to this issue. It presents basic outputs of a pilot study on pedestrian safety, with a focus on the use of mobile devices and headphones at selected non-signalized pedestrian crossings in three Slovak cities. Overall, 9% of pedestrians used headphones or mobile devices at observed pedestrian crossings (4% of them used headphones, 1% used headphones and at same time used their mobile phone, 2% made phone calls and 2% used their mobile phones). While these numbers can be considered relatively low, the study proved that during weekdays every 2 min someone was using the crossing without fully focusing on crossing the road safely. Another main finding was that although the safety risk at pedestrian crossings is increased by factors such as rush hour traffic or reduced visibility, pedestrian behavior related to the use of mobile phones and headphones does not change. A safety assessment was also carried out at the crossings. The results show that pedestrian behavior is not affected by the level of safety of the crossing (e.g., visibility of the crossing for drivers). The results of the presented analysis suggest that action is needed to change that. Due to the lack of information about accidents involving pedestrians using mobile phones and headsets when crossing the road, no relevant statistical data could be analyzed. The dataset collected can be used as a basis for further investigation or comparisons with other countries of the relevant indicators. In future work, we would like to include a pedestrian–driver interaction factor focusing on driver speed behavior in relation to pedestrians (who are on or are about to step onto a pedestrian crossing) and identify critical situations caused by improper behavior of drivers and/or pedestrians. This will help to understand speed adjustment problems related to pedestrian crossings.

Road crossings across two or more lanes in one direction are particularly dangerous due to limited sight distance and high vehicle speeds. To improve their safety, road authorities should provide safety treatments. These may include additional measures to reduce speed and narrow the road cross-section and the introduction of active pedestrian crossings. Equipped with flashing lights activated automatically when a pedestrian is detected, the crossings are painted red and have an anti-skid surface on approaches. The article presents an analysis of road user behaviour at pedestrian crossings on dual carriageways with a varying provision of road safety measures in some Polish cities. It also evaluates the effectiveness of the measures over time. The study was conducted before, immediately after and one year after the additional signage was introduced. The evaluation is based on how vehicle speeds changed before the pedestrian crossing, how pedestrians behaved versus the vehicle and their readiness to cross the street. The number of conflicts on selected crossings was also evaluated. The safety treatments under analysis were found to be less effective than the traditional pedestrian safety measures such as speed cushions or roads narrowed to one lane. This suggests that if used on dual carriageways the measures should only be temporary and should ultimately be replaced with traffic lights or a grade separated solution (a footbridge or tunnel) on exits from urban areas. No clear-cut conclusions about pedestrian safety can be drawn based on the traffic conflicts in question. The article is divided into the following sections: introduction with a review of the literature on pedestrian and driver behaviour studies at pedestrian crossings, including midblock crossings and dual carriageways; a description of the research method and test sites, the results, discussion of the results and conclusion.

Reduction of the number of fatalities among pedestrians remains a topical issue in Poland. For many years, this percentage has remained at around 30% of all those who were killed on the road. At the same time, there is an increase in the use of electronic devices by pedestrians and cyclists that may affect their perception when crossing the road. This can lead to traffic accidents. In order to investigate the problem, field studies were carried out and their results are presented in the article. Pilot studies on pedestrian and cyclist behaviour were carried out at three pedestrian crossings with traffic lights in Gdansk. Attention was paid to whether pedestrians and cyclists use headphones when crossing the road, whether they are talking on the phone or writing SMS. The results of the research indicate that currently in Gdańsk about 10% of unprotected traffic users use a telephone and 5% use headphones at pedestrian crossings. Most of them are young people, 70–90% of all users. Women prefer using headphones more than men. Pedestrians exhibited dangerous behaviour involving entering the road at a red light regardless of the use of telephones and headphones. Therefore, as part of the studies described, it cannot be clearly stated whether the use of telephones and headphones increases the risk of being the victim of an accident. Due to the lack of separate statistics with accidents involving mobile phones and headsets, it was not possible to analyse statistical data in this respect. At the same time, research confirmed traffic disruptions at the crossings, caused by telephone users, as indicated in literature.

The following study aims to address the issue of cyclist training methodologies. Recent European bicycle accident statistics reveal a troubling upward trend. A potential solution to mitigate such incidents involves providing cyclists with comprehensive training encompassing traffic regulations and interactions with fellow road users. We conducted a comparative analysis of the cycling education approaches and cyclist training systems in several countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, England, Slovenia, Poland, and Italy. This analysis underscored the importance of standardizing training protocols and criteria across Europe. The training model should draw inspiration from countries with well-established cycling cultures and serve as a foundation for harmonizing training practices.

The analysis of national data on the number of deaths showed that in Poland from 2010 to 2016 it was possible to reduce the number of fatalities by about 22%. The tendency of changes in the number of fatalities, however, is not homogeneous. When data of individual voivodships is analyzed, the situation is different. The largest reduction in fatalities in the analyzed period of time concerned voivodship Świętokrzyskie, where there was more than 45% drop in the number of fatalities. The following voivodships: Łódzkie, Lubelskie and Podkarpackie recorded a decrease in over 30% of fatalities. Unfortunately, at the end of the classification there were four voivodships with a fall below 8%, and what is disturbing voivodship Lubuskie recorded a nearly 5% increase in the number of fatalities. The current traffic safety management at the level of voivodships is often the implementation of central recommendations, which, as results from the analysis of statistical data, are not equally effective in every province. Therefore, models for forecasting changes in road safety are required. Taking into account local characteristics and implemented actions can be used to manage security more effectively at the regional level. This paper presents examples of the use of mathematical models to predict the number of fatalities in individual voivodships depending on the adopted action scenarios. Regression models were developed, taking into account demographic, infrastructural, economic and automotive factors. It turned out that in individual voivodships, various factors affect the level of road safety on roads differently. Therefore, an individual approach to each voivodship is important in order to reliably forecast the level of security.