An investigation into drivers' yielding behaviour at marked uncontrolled pedestrian crossings in Ghana

Abstract

Given the dangers pedestrians are susceptible to when crossing the roadway, an investigation of motorists' yielding decisions at uncontrolled crossings should be prioritised. Some encounters between motorists and pedestrians turn into injuries or deaths due to excessive delay on the part of drivers, and pedestrians' impatience might lead them to opt for the rolling gap. Insights into drivers' yielding behaviour in developing countries are lacking. Meanwhile, developing countries contribute significantly to traffic deaths, particularly those in the African Region. Understanding drivers' yielding behaviour is necessary for effective interventions to safeguard pedestrians and encourage safe walking. Accordingly, by deploying a backward binary logit model, this study investigated drivers' yielding behaviour at marked uncontrolled pedestrian crossings through naturalistic observation. The results revealed that a small share of drivers, 258, were observed to yield to pedestrians, representing a 28% yielding rate in total. The model indicates that the chances of motorists yielding to pedestrians are enhanced by the following factors: pedestrian age, density, gender and traffic condition. Private car drivers had the lowest yielding rate of 18.2%, followed closely by public transport drivers. This research contributes to the discourse on drivers' yielding behaviour at pedestrian crossings with perspectives from a developing country. Further, it discusses policy implications for policymakers and enforcement agencies.