Pedestrian Risk Taking While Road Crossing: A Comparison of Observed and Declared Behaviour

AbstractThe objective of this research is the comparative analysis of observed and declared behaviour of pedestrians as regards road crossing in urban areas. A field survey was carried out, in which a panel of 75 young and middle-aged pedestrians (out of which 40 males) were asked to take 8 short walking trips (each one corresponding to a different walking and crossing scenario and involving one road crossing) in the Athens city centre in Greece. This allowed to record their crossing behaviour in different road and traffic conditions, including residential roads, main urban roads and major urban arterials. The same individuals were asked to fill in a questionnaire on their crossing behaviour and preferences at different road and traffic environments, as well as other related questions concerning their travel motivations, their mobility characteristics, their risk perceptions and preferences etc. A comparative analysis of their declared and observed crossing behaviour was carried out. More specifically, for each pedestrian, the rate of mid-block crossing and diagonal crossing during the walking tasks was calculated for the different road and traffic conditions. These were compared to their questionnaire responses on their crossing behaviour in different road and traffic conditions. The results suggest that, overall, pedestrians observed behaviour is in accordance with their declared behaviour. However, there is a non-negligible share of pedestrians, whose observed and declared behaviour were discordant, either at specific road and traffic conditions or overall. For instance, there were pedestrians who declared that they never cross at mid-block on major urban road but did so during the survey. Moreover, there were pedestrians who declared high frequency of mid-block crossing, but did not implement these crossing practices during the survey. The degree of discordance between pedestrian observed and declared behaviour was further analysed in relation to pedestrian demographics. A weak tendency was identified for female pedestrians to have more discordance between observed and declared crossing behaviour on residential roads, and the same was the case for young pedestrians in all road and traffic conditions. Overall, the results suggest that, while most pedestrians appear to have consistent declared and observed behaviour, there may all deviate from their general “profile” under specific conditions

Adolescent road user behaviour : a survey of 11-16 year olds

This study was carried out to investigate the safety related behaviour of road users aged 11-16. A self-completion questionnaire was designed to measure the frequency with which children from the target population carry out 43 different road using behaviours and a number of other variables including children's beliefs about the safety of their own road using behaviour. Two thousand four hundred and thirty three children from eleven secondary schools within England completed the questionnaire in lesson time at school. Factor analysis showed that scores on the 43 behaviour items were best represented by a three-factor solution. The three factors were named unsafe road crossing behaviour, dangerous playing in the road, and planned protective behaviour. Analysis of variance and stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that demographic variables and exposure variables had statistically significant effects on how often these behaviours were carried out. More interesting was the finding that respondents had realistic perceptions of their own behaviour as road users. The more respondents believed their road using behaviour to be unsafe and irresponsible, the more often they reported carrying out road using behaviour that was undesirable from a road safety point of view. These results and their implications for road safety interventions and further research are discussed

Child–parent interaction in relation to road safety education : Part 2 – main report

• Children and young people are particularly vulnerable road users. • Child pedestrian injury rates are poor compared with the rest of Europe. • The factors that impact on children’s road safety and their capability in traffic are numerous, multi-faceted and complex. • • The systematic review conducted by Cattan et al. (2008) as the initial phase of this study shows that: • parents see themselves as being responsible for developing their children’s road safety awareness and skills; • holding hands is the most common road-crossing interaction between parents and children; • adults rarely make use of road-crossing events to give oral instructions; • few parents and children are consistent in their road-crossing behaviour; • roadside training by volunteer parents for groups of children can lead to significant improvements in children’s road safety behaviour; • belief in fate seems to influence the likelihood of parents using restraints, such as seat belts or car seats, with their children; and • parents’ understanding of the child’s perspective in carrying out road safety tasks and their motivation to actively involve their child in making decisions at the roadside can be improved through training. • Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) suggests that the modelling role of parents can make a significant contribution to children’s learning about road use and their development of traffic competence whether or not parents are aware of this. • The main aim of this study was to explore the way parents influence children and young people aged 0–16 years to be safer road users. • This study included children and young people aged 5–16 and parents of children aged 0–16 years old

Problems for Vulnerable Road Users in Great Britain

INTRODUCTION In Britain pedal cycle and, in particular, pedestrian travel are important transport modes for the population. However, given the vulnerable nature of these modes of transport, the number of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists is high, and in particular the number of killed and seriously injured victims is high. Technical measures to improve safety and efficiency focus almost exclusively on motorized traffic, disregarding the needs of non-motorized traffic participants. In order to determine how technical measures, such as Road Traffic Informatics (RTI) applications, can be used to increase the safety and mobility of pedestrians and cyclists, more information is needed about the causes of accidents to these groups. This report aims to look at a number of the attributes of accidents which involve vulnerable road users and at the characteristics of their travel, in order to identify areas where safety and mobility improvements may be obtained. It is intended to serve as a tool in subsequent stages of this project, and thus is not a general survey of safety and mobility problems for vulnerable road users, but rather a review of those issues that are related to the RTI measures envisaged by the project. The project is aimed at improving VRU safety and mobility both directly, through the enhancement of signalized junctions and pedestrian crossings, and indirectly, through the creation of a model of the traffic system incorporating vulnerable road users. It is intended that this model will permit the routing and guidance of motorized vehicles in such a way as to enhance VRU safety and reduce VRU annoyance and delay from trfic. Both the direct and the indirect measures envisaged will only be relevant to VRU safety and mobility on main roads in urban areas; they are unlikely to be applicable to residential streets or minor roads unless these have substantial VRU flows. The report therefore concentrates (in so far as existing information permits) on VRU safety and mobility on main roads and on VRU use of facilities that are intended to be upgraded through the planned RTI measures. The report is split into two main sections; the first of which will examine safety and mobility problems for vulnerable road users on a national level, and the second will examine safety and mobility problems for vulnerable road users at a more local level, specifically for Bradford in West Yorkshire. Parallel reports are being produced for Sweden and The Netherlands, which will examine the situations regarding the safety and mobility of vulnerable roads users in those countries as a whole, and in one urban area from each (namely the town of Vaxjo in Sweden and the City of Groningen in The Netherlands)

Calibration and Validation of A Shared space Model: A Case Study

Shared space is an innovative streetscape design that seeks minimum separation between vehicle traffic and pedestrians. Urban design is moving toward space sharing as a means of increasing the community texture of street surroundings. Its unique features aim to balance priorities and allow cars and pedestrians to coexist harmoniously without the need to dictate behavior. There is, however, a need for a simulation tool to model future shared space schemes and to help judge whether they might represent suitable alternatives to traditional street layouts. This paper builds on the authors’ previously published work in which a shared space microscopic mixed traffic model based on the social force model (SFM) was presented, calibrated, and evaluated with data from the shared space link typology of New Road in Brighton, United Kingdom. Here, the goal is to explore the transferability of the authors’ model to a similar shared space typology and investigate the effect of flow and ratio of traffic modes. Data recorded from the shared space scheme of Exhibition Road, London, were collected and analyzed. The flow and speed of cars and segregation between pedestrians and cars are greater on Exhibition Road than on New Road. The rule-based SFM for shared space modeling is calibrated and validated with the real data. On the basis of the results, it can be concluded that shared space schemes are context dependent and that factors such as the infrastructural design of the environment and the flow and speed of pedestrians and vehicles affect the willingness to share space

Child pedestrian safety en route to and from rural schools: A case study

This research examines the safety hazards faced by child pedestrians at rural schools within the Waipa District. The main objectives of this research were to identify hazards child pedestrians face, to identify current counter-measures to these hazards, and to evaluate the regulations and policies pertaining to these counter-measures and child pedestrian safety. Meeting these objectives then allowed the design of possible counter-measures to the hazards faced by rural child pedestrians. The ultimate goal of this research was to improve child pedestrian safety at rural schools

Adult pedestrian behavior when accompanying children on the route to school

Objective: Pedestrian injuries are a major cause of morbidity and mortality to children, especially boys. Adults serve as pedestrian role models and provide learning opportunities for children when walking to school. The research objectives were to investigate adult pedestrian behavior when accompanying boys and girls. Methods: Behavioral observation of 140 adult pedestrians accompanying 4- to 9-year-old children was done in British residential locations. Observations took place at light-controlled crossings, speed-restricted school safety zones, and mid-block unmarked crossing sites. Behaviors observed included stopping at the curb, waiting at the curb, looking left and right before and during road crossing, holding hands, talking, and walking straight across. Results: In general, adults modeled safe road crossing behaviors. Adult safe behavior scores were higher when accompanying girls than when accompanying boys. No statistically significant differences were found by child age group. The fewest safe pedestrian behaviors were observed at light-controlled crossings. Conclusions: Adult pedestrians behave differently when with boys and girls and at different types of road crossing site. Interventions aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries to children may need to take these different everyday experiences into consideration

Modelling shared space users via rule-based social force model

The promotion of space sharing in order to raise the quality of community living and safety of street surroundings is increasingly accepted feature of modern urban design. In this context, the development of a shared space simulation tool is essential in helping determine whether particular shared space schemes are suitable alternatives to traditional street layouts. A simulation tool that enables urban designers to visualise pedestrians and cars trajectories, extract flow and density relation in a new shared space design and achieve solutions for optimal design features before implementation. This paper presents a three-layered microscopic mathematical model which is capable of representing the behaviour of pedestrians and vehicles in shared space layouts and it is implemented in a traffic simulation tool. The top layer calculates route maps based on static obstacles in the environment. It plans the shortest path towards agents' respective destinations by generating one or more intermediate targets. In the second layer, the Social Force Model (SFM) is modified and extended for mixed traffic to produce feasible trajectories. Since vehicle movements are not as flexible as pedestrian movements, velocity angle constraints are included for vehicles. The conflicts described in the third layer are resolved by rule-based constraints for shared space users. An optimisation algorithm is applied to determine the interaction parameters of the force-based model for shared space users using empirical data. This new three-layer microscopic model can be used to simulate shared space environments and assess, for example, new street designs

Impact of garment industries on road safety in metropolitan Dhaka

There are about 4,000 garment industries in Bangladesh, most of them are clustered in and around the capital city. Together they account for 75 percent of the country's export earnings and employ around 1.8 million people which is almost one half of the total industrial workforce of the country. Though it is the most important economy sector of Bangladesh, unplanned and haphazardly built garment factories are also inducing many social, housing and most importantly urban transportation problems which are a great cause of concern. This study investigates the impact of garment industries on transportation, in particular road safety issues of garment workers. Data is collected to identify the locational problems of garment factories, spatial distribution of worker residences, and their travel pattern as well as to assess their walking and road crossing problems. Finally, recommendations are put forward to tackle transport problems arising from these unplanned establishments of export oriented garments industries in Dhaka Metropolitan City