Study: Ugly Roads are Deadlier, too

Roads that are perceived as boring and depressing have higher volumes of non-motorist injuries, according to new research, indicating that road design is a crucial factor in traffic safety.

As Kea Wilson explains in Streetsblog USA, “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.”

The study’s results show that the emotions conveyed by a road actually matter — and that transportation planners should take them seriously. While the researchers say more analysis is needed, “One simple theory is that our emotional perceptions often directly influence our behavior on the road, like bored drivers reaching for their cell phones behind the wheel, or would-be pedestrians avoiding walking down depressing, run-down roads – leaving those with no choice but to make the trek to fend for themselves without safety in numbers.”