FHWA-SA-21-049

Crosswalk Visibility 

Enhancements

Poor lighting conditions, obstructions such as parked cars, and horizontal or 

vertical roadway curvature can reduce visibility at crosswalks, contributing 

to safety issues. For multilane roadway crossings where vehicle volumes are 

in excess of 10,000 Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT), a marked crosswalk 

alone is typically not sufficient. Under such conditions, more substantial 

crossing improvements could prevent an increase in pedestrian crash 

potential. 

Three main crosswalk visibility enhancements help make crosswalks and the 

pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair and other mobility device users, and transit 

users using them more visible to drivers. These include high-visibility crosswalks, 

lighting, and signing and pavement markings. These enhancements can also 

assist users in deciding where to cross. Agencies can implement these features 

as standalone or combination enhancements to indicate the preferred 

location for users to cross. 

High-visibility crosswalks

High-visibility crosswalks use patterns 

(i.e., bar pairs, continental, ladder) 

that are visible to both the driver 

and pedestrian from farther 

away compared to traditional 

transverse line crosswalks. They 

should be considered at all 

midblock pedestrian crossings and 

uncontrolled intersections. Agencies 

should use materials such as inlay or 

thermoplastic tape, instead of paint 

or brick, for highly reflective crosswalk 

markings.

Improved Lighting

The goal of crosswalk lighting 

should be to illuminate with positive 

contrast to make it easier for a driver 

to visually identify the pedestrian. 

This involves carefully placing the 

luminaires in forward locations to 

avoid a silhouette effect of the 

pedestrian. 

Enhanced Signing and 

Pavement Markings

On multilane roadways, agencies 

can use “YIELD Here to Pedestrians” 

or “STOP Here for Pedestrians” 

signs 20 to 50 feet in advance of 

a marked crosswalk to indicate 

where a driver should stop or yield to 

pedestrians, depending on State law. 

To supplement the signing, agencies 

can also install a STOP or YIELD bar 

(commonly referred to as “shark’s 

teeth“) pavement markings. 

In-street signing, such as “STOP Here 

for Pedestrians” or “YIELD Here to 

Pedestrians” may be appropriate on 

roads with two- or three-lane roads 

where speed limits are 30 miles per 

hour or less. 

40%1

High-visibility crosswalks 

can reduce pedestrian injury 

crashes up to:

25%3

Advance yield or stop 

markings and signs can 

reduce pedestrian 

crashes up to:

42%2

Intersection lighting can 

reduce pedestrian crashes 

up to:

1 (CMF ID: 4123) Chen, L., C. Chen, and R. Ewing. The Relative Effectiveness of Pedestrian 

Safety Countermeasures at Urban Intersections - Lessons from a New York City Experience. (2012). 

2 (CMF ID: 436) Elvik, R. and Vaa, T. Handbook of Road Safety Measures. Oxford, United 

Kingdom, Elsevier, (2004).

3 (CMF ID: 9017) Zeeger et al. Development of Crash Modification Factors for Uncontrolled 

Pedestrian Crossing Treatments, FHWA, (2017). 

Source: FHWA

For more information on this 

and other FHWA Proven Safety 

Countermeasures, please visit 

https://highways.dot.gov/

safety/proven-safety-counter

measures and https://high 

ways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.

gov/files/2022-06/techSheet_

VizEnhancemt2018.pdf.

Safety Benefits:

Transportation agencies should refer to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices 

(MUTCD) for information on crosswalk markings (Chapter 3C) and in-street signing 

(Sections 2B.19 and 2B.20).

OFFICE OF SAFETY

Proven Safety 

Countermeasures