Unsafe Driving Behaviours at Single-Lane Roundabouts: Empirical Evidence from CHAID Method

Abstract

Even though roundabouts have been shown to provide significant safety and operational benefits, they generally are more complex and difficult to navigate than most other road segments. This study intends to contribute for a better understanding of the factors affecting the drivers’ unsafe behaviours at single-lane roundabouts. Unsafe behaviours are evaluated based on the results of an on-road test around the suburbs surrounding the city of Catania. The unsafe behaviours observed during the on-road study were classified into three different categories: entry unsafe behaviours, circulation unsafe behaviours and exit unsafe behaviours. Three Chi Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) analysis were developed in order to analyse the influence of driver’s characteristics, roundabout characteristics and manoeuvre on entry, circulation and exit unsafe behaviours respectively. Results show that the roundabout layout influences unsafe driving behaviours, while drivers’ characteristics were not found to have influence on unsafe driving behaviours.