Does listening to music impact pedestrian safety while crossing the road? Investigating using the VR approach

Abstract

Pedestrian safety has become a significant concern in low-middle-income countries, and the increasing prevalence of technology-based distractions pose a major serious safety concern for the pedestrians. Despite being a prominent source of distraction among pedestrians, listening to music is very rarely studied for its potential impacts on pedestrian safety. This study aims to quantify the influence of listening to music on the probability of crash occurrence and explore the effects of other potential factors, including pedestrian demographics, habitual behaviours, and walking characteristics, on crash occurrences at signalised intersections. Forty-two pedestrians participated in the pedestrian simulator experiments in baseline and distraction conditions (listening to music). The binary logit model results indicated that listening to music had a multi-fold effect on crash occurrence due to induced auditory impairment. Paying attention to traffic assisted in avoiding crashes with vehicles. Specifically, increased head turns towards the right side of traffic decreased the probability of crash occurrence. In addition, the pedestrians who perceived that listening to music had no associated risk while crossing the road were at high risk of crash occurrence. The findings of this study emphasise the urgency of raising awareness about the safety implications of listening to music while crossing the road.