Pedestrians, vehicles, and cell phones

With cellular phones and portable music players becoming a staple in everyday life, questions have arisen regarding the attentional deficits that might occur when such devices are used while performing other tasks. Here, we used a street-crossing task in an immersive virtual environment to test how this sort of divided attention affects pedestrian behavior when crossing a busy street. Thirty-six participants navigated through a series of unsigned intersections by walking on a manual treadmill in a virtual environment. While crossing, participants were undistracted, engaged in a hands free cell phone conversation, or listening to music on an iPod. Pedestrians were less likely to successfully cross the road when conversing on a cell phone than when listening to music, even though they took more time to initiate their crossing when conversing on a cell phone (∼1.5 s). This success rate difference was driven largely by failures to cross the road in the allotted trial time period (30 s), suggesting that when conversing on a cell phone pedestrians are less likely to recognize and act on crossing opportunities.     

Effects of mobile Internet use on college student pedestrian injury risk

Background

College-age individuals have the highest incidence of pedestrian injuries of any age cohort. One factor that might contribute to elevated pedestrian injuries among this age group is injuries incurred while crossing streets distracted by mobile devices.

Objectives

Examine whether young adult pedestrian safety is compromised while crossing a virtual pedestrian street while distracted using the Internet on a mobile “smartphone.”

Method

A within-subjects design was implemented with 92 young adults. Participants crossed a virtual pedestrian street 20 times, half the time while undistracted and half while completing an email-driven “scavenger hunt” to answer mundane questions using mobile Internet on their cell phones. Six measures of pedestrian behavior were assessed during crossings. Participants also reported typical patterns of street crossing and mobile Internet use.

Results

Participants reported using mobile Internet with great frequency in daily life, including while walking across streets. In the virtual street environment, pedestrian behavior was greatly altered and generally more risky when participants were distracted by Internet use. While distracted, participants waited longer to cross the street (F = 42.37), missed more safe opportunities to cross (F = 42.63), took longer to initiate crossing when a safe gap was available (F = 53.03), looked left and right less often (F = 124.68), spent more time looking away from the road (F = 1959.78), and were more likely to be hit or almost hit by an oncoming vehicle (F = 29.54; all ps < 0.01). Results were retained after controlling for randomized order; participant gender, age, and ethnicity; and both pedestrian habits and mobile Internet experience.

Conclusion

Pedestrian behavior was influenced, and generally considerably riskier, when participants were simultaneously using mobile Internet and crossing the street than when crossing the street with no distraction. This finding reinforces the need for increased awareness concerning the risks of distracted pedestrian behavior.     

The effects of mobile phone use on pedestrian crossing behaviour at signalized and unsignalized intersections

Research amongst drivers suggests that pedestrians using mobile telephones may behave riskily while crossing the road, and casual observation suggests concerning levels of pedestrian mobile-use. An observational field survey of 270 females and 276 males was conducted to compare the safety of crossing behaviours for pedestrians using, versus not using, a mobile phone. Amongst females, pedestrians who crossed while talking on a mobile phone crossed more slowly, and were less likely to look at traffic before starting to cross, to wait for traffic to stop, or to look at traffic while crossing, compared to matched controls. For males, pedestrians who crossed while talking on a mobile phone crossed more slowly at unsignalized crossings. These effects suggest that talking on a mobile phone is associated with cognitive distraction that may undermine pedestrian safety. Messages explicitly suggesting techniques for avoiding mobile-use while road crossing may benefit pedestrian safety.     

Impact of distracted driving on safety and traffic flow

Studies have documented a link between distracted driving and diminished safety; however, an association between distracted driving and traffic congestion has not been investigated in depth. The present study examined the behavior of teens and young adults operating a driving simulator while engaged in various distractions (i.e., cell phone, texting, and undistracted) and driving conditions (i.e., free flow, stable flow, and oversaturation). Seventy five participants 16–25 years of age (split into 2 groups: novice drivers and young adults) drove a STISIM simulator three times, each time with one of three randomly presented distractions. Each drive was designed to represent daytime scenery on a 4 lane divided roadway and included three equal roadway portions representing Levels of Service (LOS) A, C, and E as defined in the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual. Participants also completed questionnaires documenting demographics and driving history. Both safety and traffic flow related driving outcomes were considered. A Repeated Measures Multivariate Analysis of Variance was employed to analyze continuous outcome variables and a Generalized Estimate Equation (GEE) Poisson model was used to analyze count variables. Results revealed that, in general more lane deviations and crashes occurred during texting. Distraction (in most cases, text messaging) had a significantly negative impact on traffic flow, such that participants exhibited greater fluctuation in speed, changed lanes significantly fewer times, and took longer to complete the scenario. In turn, more simulated vehicles passed the participant drivers while they were texting or talking on a cell phone than while undistracted. The results indicate that distracted driving, particularly texting, may lead to reduced safety and traffic flow, thus having a negative impact on traffic operations. No significant differences were detected between age groups, suggesting that all drivers, regardless of age, may drive in a manner that impacts safety and traffic flow negatively when distracted.     

Differential impact of personality traits on distracted driving behaviors in teens and older adults

ObjectiveTo determine the impact of personality on distracted driving behaviors.MethodParticipants included 120 drivers (48 teens, 72 older adults) who completed the 45-item Big Five Personality questionnaire assessing self-reported personality factors and the Questionnaire Assessing Distracted Driving (QUADD) assessing the frequency of distracted driving behaviors. Associations for all five personality traits with each outcome (e.g., number of times texting on the phone, talking on the phone, and interacting with the phone while driving) were analyzed separately for teens and older adults using negative binomial or Poisson regressions that controlled for age, gender and education.ResultsIn teens, higher levels of openness and conscientiousness were predictive of greater reported texting frequency and interacting with a phone while driving, while lower levels of agreeableness was predictive of fewer reported instances of texting and interacting with a phone while driving. In older adults, greater extraversion was predictive of greater reported talking on and interacting with a phone while driving. Other personality factors were not significantly associated with distracted driving behaviors.ConclusionsPersonality traits may be important predictors of distracted driving behaviors, though specific traits associated with distracted driving may vary across age groups. The relationship between personality and distracted driving behaviors provides a unique opportunity to target drivers who are more likely to engage in distracted driving behavior, thereby increasing the effectiveness of educational campaigns and improving driving safety.     

Bicycling safety and distracted behavior in The Hague,the Netherlands

As planners and public health officials in many cities around the world seek to increase bicycle ridership, bicyclists who are performing a secondary task (such as listening to a portable music device) may pose a risk to public safety. This study examines bicycling safety and potentially distracted behavior in The Hague, the Netherlands, a place where bicycling is a common, everyday travel mode among all walks of life and where bicycling infrastructure is well developed. Based on 1360 observations of bicycling behavior, this study shows that bicyclists who were using a cell phone, listening to a portable music device, or talking with other bicyclists exhibited more unsafe behaviors than those bicyclists who were not performing a secondary task. Furthermore, bicyclists who were performing a secondary task also more frequently created situations where other people had to evade them to avoid an accident. As with distracted car driving, the performance of a secondary task while bicycling may be unsafe for the person engaging in the behavior as well as for other people around them.     

Pedestrian injuries due to mobile phone use in public places

Research shows that pedestrians, similar to drivers, experience reduced situation awareness, distracted attention and unsafe behavior when talking or texting on their mobile phones. The present study centered on injuries related to mobile phone use among pedestrians. It used data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on injuries in hospital emergency rooms from 2004 through 2010. It found that mobile-phone related injuries among pedestrians increased relative to total pedestrian injuries, and paralleled the increase in injuries for drivers, and in 2010 exceeded those for drivers. Pedestrian injuries related to mobile-phone use were higher for males and for people under 31 years old. Using a mobile phone while walking puts pedestrians at risk of accident, injury or death.     

Influence of personal mobile phone ringing and usual intention to answer on driver error

Given evidence of effects of mobile phone use on driving, and also legislation, many careful drivers refrain from answering their phones when driving. However, the distracting influence of a call on driving, even in the context of not answering, has not been examined. Furthermore, given that not answering may be contrary to an individual's normal habits, this study examined whether distraction caused by the ignored call varies according to normal intention to answer whilst driving. That is, determining whether the effect is more than a simple matter of noise distraction. Participants were 27 young drivers (18–29 years), all regular mobile users. A Theory of Planned Behaviour questionnaire examined predictors of intention to refrain from answering calls whilst driving. Participants provided their mobile phone number and were instructed not to answer their phone if it were to ring during a driving simulation. The simulation scenario had seven hazards (e.g. car pulling out, pedestrian crossing) with three being immediately preceded by a call. Infractions (e.g. pedestrian collisions, vehicle collisions, speed exceedances) were significantly greater when distracted by call tones than with no distraction. Lower intention to ignore calls whilst driving correlated with a larger effect of distraction, as was feeling unable to control whether one answered whilst driving (Perceived Behavioural Control). The study suggests that even an ignored call can cause significantly increased infractions in simulator driving, with pedestrian collisions and speed exceedances being striking examples. Results are discussed in relation to cognitive demands of inhibiting normal behaviour and to drivers being advised to switch phones off whilst driving.     

The influence of carrying a backpack on college student pedestrian safety

University students walk frequently, and individuals ages 18-22 have among the highest rates of pedestrian injury among any age group in the United States. These injuries are caused by a wide range of individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors, but one factor that has not been previously considered carefully is the influence of wearing a heavy backpack on pedestrian safety. Backpacks are known to slow walking speed and disrupt perception of one's environment, so it is reasonable to question whether they might also influence safe pedestrian behavior. Ninety-six college students engaged in 20 street-crossings within a virtual pedestrian environment. Half the crossings were completed while bearing a backpack weighing 12% of their body weight; the other half were completed without any burdens. Results suggest that participants walked more slowly, left less safe time to spare after crossing the virtual street, and experienced more frequent hits or close calls with traffic when crossing while carrying the backpack. They also missed fewer safe opportunities to cross while carrying the backpack. Our tests of several demographic characteristics, pedestrian behaviors, and backpack use, as covariates suggest the finding holds across all subsamples included in our study. Implications for pedestrian safety and future research are discussed.     

A parametric duration model of the reaction times of drivers distracted by mobile phone conversations

The use of mobile phones while driving is more prevalent among young drivers—a less experienced cohort with elevated crash risk. The objective of this study was to examine and better understand the reaction times of young drivers to a traffic event originating in their peripheral vision whilst engaged in a mobile phone conversation. The CARRS-Q advanced driving simulator was used to test a sample of young drivers on various simulated driving tasks, including an event that originated within the driver's peripheral vision, whereby a pedestrian enters a zebra crossing from a sidewalk. Thirty-two licensed drivers drove the simulator in three phone conditions: baseline (no phone conversation), hands-free and handheld. In addition to driving the simulator each participant completed questionnaires related to driver demographics, driving history, usage of mobile phones while driving, and general mobile phone usage history. The participants were 21–26 years old and split evenly by gender. Drivers’ reaction times to a pedestrian in the zebra crossing were modelled using a parametric accelerated failure time (AFT) duration model with a Weibull distribution. Also tested where two different model specifications to account for the structured heterogeneity arising from the repeated measures experimental design. The Weibull AFT model with gamma heterogeneity was found to be the best fitting model and identified four significant variables influencing the reaction times, including phone condition, driver's age, license type (provisional license holder or not), and self-reported frequency of usage of handheld phones while driving. The reaction times of drivers were more than 40% longer in the distracted condition compared to baseline (not distracted). Moreover, the impairment of reaction times due to mobile phone conversations was almost double for provisional compared to open license holders. A reduction in the ability to detect traffic events in the periphery whilst distracted presents a significant and measurable safety concern that will undoubtedly persist unless mitigated.     

Gender differences in psychosocial predictors of texting while driving

A sample of 158 male and 357 female college students at a midwestern university participated in an on-line study of psychosocial motives for texting while driving. Men and women did not differ in self-reported ratings of how often they texted while driving. However, more women sent texts of less than a sentence while more men sent texts of 1–5 sentences. More women than men said they would quit texting while driving due to police warnings, receiving information about texting dangers, being shown graphic pictures of texting accidents, and being in a car accident. A hierarchical regression for men’s data revealed that lower levels of feeling distracted by texting while driving (20% of the variance), higher levels of cell phone dependence (11.5% of the variance), risky behavioral tendencies (6.5% of the variance) and impulsivity (2.3%) of the variance) were significantly associated with more texting while driving (total model variance = 42%). A separate regression for women revealed that higher levels of cell phone dependence (10.4% of the variance), risky behavioral tendencies (9.9% of the variance), texting distractibility (6.2%), crash risk estimates (2.2% of the variance) and driving confidence (1.3% of the variance) were significantly associated with more texting while driving (total model variance = 31%.) Friendship potential and need for intimacy were not related to men’s or women’s texting while driving. Implications of the results for gender-specific prevention strategies are discussed.     

Safety-critical event risk associated with cell phone tasks as measured in naturalistic driving studies: A systematic review and meta-analysis

A systematic review and meta-analysis of naturalistic driving studies involving estimates of safety-critical event risk associated with handheld device use while driving is described. Fifty-seven studies identified from targeted databases, journals and websites were reviewed in depth, and six were ultimately included. These six studies, published between 2006 and 2014, encompass seven sets of naturalistic driver data and describe original research that utilized naturalistic methods to assess the effects of distracting behaviors. Four studies involved non-commercial drivers of light vehicles and two studies involved commercial drivers of trucks and buses. Odds ratios quantifying safety-critical event (SCE) risk associated with talking, dialing, locating or answering, and texting or browsing were extracted. Stratified meta-analysis of pooled odds ratios was used to estimate SCE risk by distraction type; meta-regression was used to test for sources of heterogeneity. The results indicate that tasks that require drivers to take their eyes off the road, such as dialing, locating a phone and texting, increase SCE risk to a greater extent than tasks that do not require eyes off the road such as talking. Although talking on a handheld device did not increase SCE risk, further research is required to determine whether it indirectly influences SCE risk (e.g., by encouraging other cell phone activities). In addition, a number of study biases and quality issues of naturalistic driving studies are discussed.     

Pedestrian behavior and safety on a two-stage crossing with a center refuge island and the effect of winter weather on pedestrian compliance rate

Despite a burgeoning research effort directed at understanding the effects of age, gender, disability, group size, traffic control condition and street width on pedestrian safety and compliance rate as they cross a signalized intersection, remarkably little is known about the compliance rate at a signal controlled two-stage crossing and how pedestrians react to different weather conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pedestrian behavior becomes more risky in inclement weather through the investigation of street crossing behavior and compliance under different weather and road surface conditions at a busy two-stage crossing. Road crossing behavior was filmed at one eight-lane divided road strip at a downtown site in Toronto metropolitan area. The intersection was filmed unobtrusively from a rooftop by one camera set to record both oncoming near-side traffic and pedestrian movements. Pedestrian behavior and compliance rate were scored for a number of determinants of safe road crossing actions. Overall, the results show that road crossing behavior in inclement weather conditions was less safe than in fine weather. The designs of signal timing and configuration of the center refuge island also adversely influenced pedestrian behavior at this crossing, and adverse weather conditions further exacerbated the noncompliance rate. This paper presents new information on compliance rate at a two-stage crossing that emphasizes the need to consider the influence of traffic signal design and weather conditions on pedestrians’ behavior. More studies are needed to develop traffic control techniques to allow pedestrians to cross wide two-stage crossings in safety.     

Prevalence of texting while driving and other risky driving behaviors among young people in Ontario,Canada: Evidence from 2012 and 2014

This paper reports on the prevalence of texting while driving and other risky driving behaviors by age and gender in two large samples of youth aged 16–19 years in Ontario, Canada. In Study 1 (N = 6133), we found that males reported more frequent texting while driving and speeding than females and, in terms of age, sixteen year olds reported frequent texting while driving than older participants. In Study 2 (N = 4450), which was conducted two years later, males again reported more frequent texting while driving, however there was no difference in the rate of talking on the phone while driving among males and females. Participants also reported on experiences that led to a significant reduction in their texting while driving. The most common reasons were the perceived danger of texting while driving, laws and fines against texting while driving, and observing close-calls and accidents experienced by other people. The results of both studies suggest that driving-related risk-taking behaviors co-occur and that young passengers in vehicles, including 14 and 15 year olds, are bystanders to texting while driving. Finally, there was a substantial decline in the prevalence of texting while driving across the studies. In Study 1, 27% of participants reported “sometimes” to “almost always” texting while driving compared to 6% of participants in Study 2. Limitations and implications for public campaigns targeted youth distracted driving are discussed.     

Community-based pedestrian safety training in virtual reality: A pragmatic trial

Child pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity across the United States and the world. Repeated practice at the cognitive-perceptual task of crossing a street may lead to safer pedestrian behavior. Virtual reality offers a unique opportunity for repeated practice without the risk of actual injury. This study conducted a pre-post within-subjects trial of training children in pedestrian safety using a semi-mobile, semi-immersive virtual pedestrian environment placed at schools and community centers. Pedestrian safety skills among a group of 44 seven- and eight-year-old children were assessed in a laboratory, and then children completed six 15-minute training sessions in the virtual pedestrian environment at their school or community center following pragmatic trial strategies over the course of three weeks. Following training, pedestrian safety skills were re-assessed. Results indicate improvement in delay entering traffic following training. Safe crossings did not demonstrate change. Attention to traffic and time to contact with oncoming vehicles both decreased somewhat, perhaps an indication that training was incomplete and children were in the process of actively learning to be safer pedestrians. The findings suggest virtual reality environments placed in community centers hold promise for teaching children to be safer pedestrians, but future research is needed to determine the optimal training dosage.     

Engrossed in conversation: the impact of cell phones on simulated driving performance

The current study examined the effects of cognitively distracting tasks on various measures of driving performance. Thirty-six college students with a median of 6 years of driving experience completed a driving history questionnaire and four simulated driving scenarios. The distraction tasks consisted of responding to a signal detection task and engaging in a simulated cell phone conversation. Driving performance was measured in terms of four categories of behavior: traffic violations (e.g., speeding, running stop signs), driving maintenance (e.g., standard deviation of lane position), attention lapses (e.g., stops at green lights, failure to visually scan for intersection traffic), and response time (e.g., time to step on brake in response to a pop-up event). Performance was significantly impacted in all four categories when drivers were concurrently talking on a hands-free phone. Performance on the signal detection task was poor and not significantly impacted by the phone task, suggesting that considerably less attention was paid to detecting these peripheral signals. However, the signal detection task did interact with the phone task on measures of average speed, speed variability, attention lapses, and reaction time. The findings lend further empirical support of the dangers of drivers being distracted by cell phone conversations.     

Pedestrian environment and behavior in Karachi, Pakistan.

Pedestrian road traffic accidents (RTAs) are responsible for a substantial number of injuries and deaths in Karachi. To better understand the situations facing pedestrians we selected ten of Karachi's highest risk locations for pedestrian RTAs and observed 250 pedestrians for each of three activities--crossing the street, walking on the street, and walking on the sidewalk. We also observed the extent and effect of street and sidewalk encroachments. A total of 35% of the pedestrians crossing the street caused traffic to swerve to avoid them. Pedestrians crossing one lane at a time were 2.9 times more likely to cause the traffic to swerve than pedestrians who crossed the whole street at once (53 vs. 18%, RR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.9-4.3). Pedestrians crossing in a group were 1.8 times more likely to cause traffic to swerve compared to those crossing singly (49 vs. 28%, RR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.3-2.5, P = 0.001). A total of 36% ran while crossing and were 1.8 times more likely to cause traffic to swerve than those who walked (48 vs. 27%, RR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.3-2.5). An average of 77% of the sidewalk width was blocked by encroachments which forced pedestrians to step on the road resulting in vehicles swerving. An average 33% of the street width was blocked by illegally parked vehicles. Pedestrians in Karachi indulge in risky behaviors. Encroachments on streets and sidewalks compound the problem. Piloting efforts to modify pedestrian behavior and the environment they negotiate should be considered to reduce pedestrian deaths.     

Illegal road crossing behavior of pedestrians at overpass locations: Factors affecting gap acceptance,crossing times and overpass use

The aim of designing overpasses is to provide safe road crossings for pedestrians by helping them to avoid conflicts with motor vehicles. However, the number of pedestrians who do not use overpasses to cross the road is very high. An observational survey of illegal road crossings was conducted at four overpass locations in Izmir, Turkey to determine the crossing time, crossing speed of the pedestrians and their distance and time gap perception for safe road-crossing within 25 m of the overpasses in both directions. Crossing time is the time needed for a pedestrian to cross a particular road. Time gap is strongly related with safety margin. If a pedestrian chooses a larger time gap, then the arrival time of the oncoming vehicle to the crossing point of the pedestrian increases thus, the possibility of a collision decreases. Each overpass was observed on weekdays during peak afternoon (12.30–13.30) and evening hours (17.00–18.00). At all overpass locations 454 illegal crossings were observed. ANOVA results revealed that age had a significant effect both on safety margin and crossing time. During the observations a survey was conducted among pedestrians who completed their crossings either using the overpass or at street level within 25 m of the overpass (n = 231). Factors affecting the crossing choice of pedestrians were specified in the surveys. The major part of the respondents (71.7%) indicated that time saving was the main reason for crossing at street level. Pedestrians’ crossing speeds were extracted from the video recordings to observe the effect of speed limit on pedestrian behavior. As a result, at locations where the speed limit was 70 km/h, pedestrians’ average crossing speed was found to be 1.60 m/s and 1.73 m/s while at locations where the speed limit was 50 km/h, pedestrians’ average crossing speed was found to be 1.04 m/s and 0.97 m/s. This shows that pedestrians feel safer while crossing when the vehicle speed is low.     

Why drivers use cell phones and support legislation to restrict this practice

The use of cell phones while driving is ubiquitous, particularly in countries where the practice is legal. However, surveys indicate that most drivers favor legislation to limit the use of mobile devices during the operation of a vehicle. A study was conducted to understand this inconsistency between what drivers do and what they advocate for others. Participants completed a survey about their driving attitudes, abilities, and behaviors. Following previous research, drivers reported using cell phones for benefits such as getting work done. The hypocrisy of using cell phones while advocating restrictions appears to stem from differences in the perceived safety risks of self vs. others’ use of cell phones. Many if not most drivers believe they can drive safely while using mobile devices. However, they lack confidence in others’ ability to drive safely while distracted and believe that others’ use of cell phones is dangerous. The threat to public safety of others’ usage of mobile devices was one of the strongest independent predictors of support for legislation to restrict cell phone use.     

Where are we on driver distraction? Methods,approaches and recommendations

Research within the road transport domain is progressively recognising the importance of taking a systems view of accident analysis. This signals a movement away from the more traditional approaches that aim to determine cause–effect relationships and attribute blame to the end-user. The multiple accidents associated with distracted driving have typically sought to establish the role of the driver and attribute responsibility to the individual. This paper will look at the approach that has been used to study distracted driving, the methods employed to study it and the recommendations they have provided to practise. The role of rapidly developing technology is discussed as more sources of distraction are presented to the driver. The limitations of the current approach lead to the proposition of a systems approach to driver distraction that aligns with the study of safety in other domains. This paper provides a novel overview of the variety of methodologies used to study distracted driving and how they may impact on the resulting countermeasures. The suggestion of a research–practice gap within the road transport domain is explored. The benefits of systems-based approaches, and their place in advancing driver distraction research for the development of future recommendations, are presented.