Another three-dimensional pedestrian crossing in Poland was built in Częstochowa, implemented as part of the Hello ICE – Budimex for Children programme. After Bartoszyce, Lesznowola, Miechów and Sanok, Częstochowa is the fifth city in the country to test the increasingly popular solution that improves pedestrian safety on the road. The 3D lanes in Częstochowa are just the beginning of similar investments in 2021. In the following months, 3D lanes are to be built in at least five more locations.
– In 2021. we are continuing the pilot project of 3D stripe painting, which last year met with considerable interest from cities and local governments. This is an innovative solution that has not been very popular in Poland so far. Currently, however, more and more cities are willing to test it, which makes us very happy, because it confirms the involvement of local governments in the very important issue of pedestrian safety on the roads,” says Cezary Mączka, Member of the Management Board of Budimex.
In the Municipal Road Authority in Częstochowa, they point out that every action that has a chance to improve the safety of pedestrians on city roads in the future is worth taking and testing.
“Due to the lack of appropriate legal regulations in our country, we cannot commonly introduce solutions related to three-dimensional marking on public roads. However, we are in a privileged situation because such an opportunity has arisen on the internal road leading m.in. to our new headquarters – said Maciej Hasik, spokesman for the Częstochowa MZD and adds. “However, it will not be testing for the sake of testing, because the road is also an access road for neighboring institutions. It is m.in. School and educational institutions, i.e. a three-dimensional zebra, has a chance to generate more caution among drivers and will be helpful for those who move on foot within our headquarters.
As Hasik emphasized, the three-dimensional pedestrian crossing in Częstochowa was built right next to the kindergarten, the complex of special schools and the headquarters of the Municipal Road Authority, which only emphasizes the city’s commitment to promoting good practices and increasing awareness of safety among both pedestrians and drivers. Why is it so important?
Mainly because Polish roads are among the most dangerous in Europe, which is confirmed by statistics. Suffice it to say that in 2020 alone. there were 5235 accidents involving pedestrians in Poland, more than half of which took place at pedestrian crossings. Their main causes are the failure to give way to a pedestrian in the lanes and the failure to adjust the speed by drivers. This is another proof that changes in the awareness of drivers are needed, and the expansion of road infrastructure with three-dimensional crossings can help a lot in this.
While in Poland, due to the still low popularity of 3D stripes, there is a lack of precise information on their effectiveness, we know that the effect of the optical illusion used in three-dimensional passages has already passed the test m.in. in India and Iceland, where drivers, seeing 3D markings, took their foot off the accelerator, and the speed of vehicles decreased by an average of 40%. In Poland, 3D belts have so far appeared m.in. in Lidzbark Warmiński and in the aforementioned Bartoszyce, Lesznowola, Miechów and Sanok and recently – in Częstochowa.
