Pedestrian distraction: Mobile phone use and its associations with other risky crossing behaviours and conflict situations

Abstract

Pedestrian distraction related to mobile phone use has become an emerging road safety issue. While much research has investigated the effects of pedestrian distraction on risky crossing behaviours, little is understood about potential risk compensation behaviours and the relationships between pedestrian distraction and safety outcomes, such as near-misses or involvement in a conflict situation. This paper aims to explore pedestrian distraction and its associations with other risky crossing behaviours and safety outcomes, using field observation data in Hanoi, Vietnam. Associations between pedestrian distraction and risky behaviours or conflict situations were identified using log-binomial and logistic regression. Results show that around 14.4% of pedestrians were distracted while crossing. Interestingly, while distracted pedestrians were more likely not to observe traffic while crossing, they were less likely to violate traffic signals or cross outside the marked crosswalks. These findings suggest distracted pedestrians may have risk compensation behaviours. Results also indicated a relatively small yet significant effect of mobile phone distraction on conflict situations.