Evaluation of intervention for pedestrian‑vehicle collisions at unsignalized intersections in virtual reality environments: Short- and long-term effects

Abstract

Pedestrian-vehicle collisions are common at unsignalized intersections. While governments worldwide have implemented various interventions to reduce pedestrian crashes, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unexplored, particularly for sustainability. The study used a virtual reality technology-based approach to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of interventions on pedestrian-vehicle collisions. The short-term intervention (immediate intervention) effects were evaluated through a multi-factor index system. Furthermore, one repeated-measures ANOVA was performed to examine the link between the short-term intervention effects and compound mode, implementation period, and number of single interventions (N = 60). Moreover, the long-term intervention (lasting for six months) effect was evaluated using two indices: pedestrian-vehicle collision events (PCE) and pedestrian-vehicle collision self-intervention events (PCSE). Additionally, the effects of long-term intervention and their association with factors such as age, gender, and district were examined in the MAMOVA analysis (N = 44). Results showed that combined interventions exhibited better effects compared to single interventions. The implementation periods of interventions could impact the generation of optimal combined interventions. The efficacy of short-term intervention could not be determined by the number of single interventions alone. As the duration of intervention increases, there is a significant decrease in mean PCEs and an increase in mean PCSEs for each gender group. Older participants demonstrated a higher level of caution before crossing intersections compared to younger participants following long-term intervention. Participants closer to the city center were more likely to adopt preventive strategies for preventing pedestrian-vehicle collisions after long-term intervention. The observations from this study provided a basis for long-term developing countermeasures in the China to improve the ability of pedestrians to cross the road safely.