{"title":"Assessing the risk of pedestrian crossing behavior on suburban roads using structural equation model","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jtte.2023.12.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While pedestrian crashes on suburban roads have received more attention over recent years, the role of pedestrian crossing risk in areas adjacent to pedestrian crossing facilities, such as pedestrian overpasses, has been neglected. Most pedestrians in suburban areas tend to avoid pedestrian overpasses, exhibiting crossing behaviors that increase the likelihood of pedestrian-involving crashes. As a result of the presence of overpasses, drivers may think that there are no pedestrians in the surroundings, so they choose a speed based only on the prevailing traffic and road environment without accounting for potential interactions with pedestrians. Consequently, crashes will occur, with pedestrians typically being the most seriously affected casualties. In this study, using video recordings from a suburban road in Amol-Babol, Iran, the risk of pedestrian crossing behavior in areas near pedestrian overpasses is investigated. The speed selection behavior of drivers in these areas has also been examined using speedometer cameras. To quantify the level of risk for pedestrians when interacting with approaching vehicles during the crossing movements, the post encroachment time (PET) was used as a surrogate safety measure. Based on critical thresholds of PET, three different risk levels were identified using a <em>K</em>-means algorithm: high, medium, and low risk. To identify the elements affecting the risk of pedestrian crossing behavior, structural equation models were estimated for all three risk levels. The results showed that human factors, relating to both drivers and pedestrians, have a dominant impact on pedestrian safety, especially in high and medium risk contexts. Road and vehicle factors were also found to have statistically observable effects on pedestrian safety, but to a milder extent compared to human factors. The findings of this study highlight the need for intervening in several aspects of vehicle-pedestrian interactions with critical importance for pedestrian safety, including road users’ performance and compliance, state of alertness, and interaction with road infrastructure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47239,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering-English Edition","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering-English Edition","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095756424001004","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, CIVIL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
While pedestrian crashes on suburban roads have received more attention over recent years, the role of pedestrian crossing risk in areas adjacent to pedestrian crossing facilities, such as pedestrian overpasses, has been neglected. Most pedestrians in suburban areas tend to avoid pedestrian overpasses, exhibiting crossing behaviors that increase the likelihood of pedestrian-involving crashes. As a result of the presence of overpasses, drivers may think that there are no pedestrians in the surroundings, so they choose a speed based only on the prevailing traffic and road environment without accounting for potential interactions with pedestrians. Consequently, crashes will occur, with pedestrians typically being the most seriously affected casualties. In this study, using video recordings from a suburban road in Amol-Babol, Iran, the risk of pedestrian crossing behavior in areas near pedestrian overpasses is investigated. The speed selection behavior of drivers in these areas has also been examined using speedometer cameras. To quantify the level of risk for pedestrians when interacting with approaching vehicles during the crossing movements, the post encroachment time (PET) was used as a surrogate safety measure. Based on critical thresholds of PET, three different risk levels were identified using a K-means algorithm: high, medium, and low risk. To identify the elements affecting the risk of pedestrian crossing behavior, structural equation models were estimated for all three risk levels. The results showed that human factors, relating to both drivers and pedestrians, have a dominant impact on pedestrian safety, especially in high and medium risk contexts. Road and vehicle factors were also found to have statistically observable effects on pedestrian safety, but to a milder extent compared to human factors. The findings of this study highlight the need for intervening in several aspects of vehicle-pedestrian interactions with critical importance for pedestrian safety, including road users’ performance and compliance, state of alertness, and interaction with road infrastructure.
近年来,郊区道路上的行人碰撞事故受到越来越多的关注,但行人过街风险在行人过街设施(如人行天桥)附近地区的作用却一直被忽视。郊区的大多数行人都倾向于避开人行过街天桥,他们的过街行为增加了发生行人碰撞事故的可能性。由于立交桥的存在,驾驶员可能会认为周围没有行人,因此只根据当时的交通和道路环境选择车速,而不考虑可能与行人发生的相互作用。因此,碰撞事故就会发生,而行人通常是受影响最严重的伤亡者。本研究利用伊朗阿莫尔-巴波尔郊区道路的视频记录,调查了行人过街行为在人行天桥附近区域的风险。此外,还使用测速照相机对这些地区驾驶员的速度选择行为进行了研究。为了量化行人在横穿马路时与驶来车辆相互作用的风险水平,使用了侵占后时间(PET)作为替代安全措施。根据 PET 的临界阈值,使用 K-means 算法确定了三种不同的风险等级:高风险、中风险和低风险。为了确定影响行人过马路行为风险的因素,对所有三个风险等级进行了结构方程模型估算。结果表明,与驾驶员和行人有关的人为因素对行人安全有主要影响,尤其是在高风险和中风险情况下。从统计学角度看,道路和车辆因素对行人安全也有影响,但与人为因素相比,影响程度较轻。这项研究的结果突出表明,有必要对车辆与行人互动中对行人安全至关重要的几个方面进行干预,包括道路使用者的表现和遵守情况、警觉状态以及与道路基础设施的互动。
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (English Edition) serves as a renowned academic platform facilitating the exchange and exploration of innovative ideas in the realm of transportation. Our journal aims to foster theoretical and experimental research in transportation and welcomes the submission of exceptional peer-reviewed papers on engineering, planning, management, and information technology. We are dedicated to expediting the peer review process and ensuring timely publication of top-notch research in this field.