Tian, K orcid.org/0000-0002-1412-7964, Markkula, G orcid.org/0000-0003-0244-1582, Wei, C et al. (4 more authors) (2022) Explaining Unsafe Pedestrian Road Crossing Behaviours Using a Psychophysics-based Gap Acceptance Model. Safety Science, 154. 105837. ISSN 0925-7535
Abstract
Accidents involving pedestrians are particularly common at unsignalised intersections and mid-block crosswalks, where vehicles often do not yield to them. Analysing and understanding pedestrian crossing behaviour at such locations is vital for improving road safety. Previous studies have repeatedly shown that pedestrians tend to accept smaller time gaps in conditions with higher vehicle speeds and thus potentially less safe. This has prompted the hypothesis that pedestrians rely on spatial distance to make crossing decisions. However, few studies have investigated the mechanism underpinning this phenomenon. We propose a novel approach to characterise pedestrian crossing behaviour: a psychophysics-based gap acceptance (PGA) model based on visual looming cues and binary choice logit method. Road crossing data collected in a simulated experiment were used to analyse pedestrian behaviour and test the model. Our analysis indicates that, in line with previous studies, higher vehicle speed increased the tendency of gap acceptance, leading to a higher rate of unsafe crossings. Crucially, the PGA model could accurately account for these crossing decisions across experimental scenarios, more parsimoniously than a conventional model. These results explain the speed-induced unsafe behaviour by suggesting that pedestrians apply visual looming, which depends on vehicle speed and distance, to make crossing decisions. This study reinforces the notion that for two vehicles with the same time gap, the one with higher speed can elicit more risky crossing behaviour from pedestrians, potentially resulting in more severe accidents. The practical implications of the results for traffic safety management, modelling and development of automated vehicles are discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Pedestrians; Unsafe crossing decision; Psychophysical model; Gap acceptance modelling; Safety margin |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Transport Studies (Leeds) > ITS: Safety and Technology (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Innovate UK fka Technology Strategy Board (TSB) TS/S007067/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 May 2022 11:49 |
Last Modified: | 15 May 2023 10:46 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105837 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:187357 |