Distracted Pedestrians Research Articles

Insights into critical urban pedestrian dynamics: an observational study spotlighting a small sample of blind pedestrians and electric vehicles

Observational studies, whether conducted on-site or through simulation, are practical options for investigating and comprehending pedestrian behaviour and validating the findings of similar studies that have already taken place on the same subject. Although they present difficulties in demographic characterisation and personal context, observation represents the adoption of actual behaviour, highlighting the different scenarios, contexts and characteristics of the environment and infrastructure in urban areas. However, with the growth in simulators, surveys, and data protection issues in Europe, field observation is less considered, and several studies have been left aside. Based on observation, this study answers behavioural and demographic questions, namely age and gender, using the data of six pedestrian crossings in Coimbra, Portugal. This experience occurred on different days of the week (the week before lockdown), registering blind (and non-blind) pedestrians' behaviour facing the electric vehicle in 6 crosswalks, 30 min in each crosswalk, morning or afternoon, with favourable weather conditions outside peak hours In total 180 (30*6) minutes were filmed and evaluated. The relationships between responsibility (when one pedestrian is guided by another) and group action in decision-making and crossing behaviour were also investigated. Another relevant aspect studied was the relationship between pedestrians and electric vehicles in different contexts. During the research, an electric vehicle was inserted in the observational experience, circulating in the streets to observe the pedestrians' reaction to the absence of noise. In this context, blind pedestrians were invited to perform crossings in these areas and identify the presence of the electric vehicle, to identify some differences in the behaviour of blind pedestrians and non-blind pedestrians. The results indicate that blind pedestrians tend to be more cautious than non-blind pedestrians, that younger and elderly pedestrians tend to have more dangerous and less calculated behaviours than other road users and that the differences are more perceptible in age than gender. It should be noted that when in a group, especially adolescents, they commit more traffic errors. Furthermore, regarding the absence of noise associated with the electric vehicle, in moments of pedestrian distraction, if the driver is not attentive, there is an increase in the risk of accidents.

Understanding distracted pedestrians’ risky behaviour: The role of walking and visual characteristics through a field study

Use of mobile phones while crossing the road has become a growing safety concern among pedestrians. Though recently, some studies have attempted to understand risky behaviour of distracted pedestrians by analyzing impacts of distraction on pedestrians’ walking and visual characteristics, the impacts were measured individually. Moreover, most of the existing findings are based on lab-based experiments, whereas the real-world conditions are quite dynamic in nature. Hence, to overcome these gaps, the current study aims to understand to what extent different potential factors (such as distraction, walking characteristics, visual behaviour, etc.) affect the risk of unsafe pedestrian-vehicle interactions in real-world settings. For this purpose, a field experiment was designed to understand the impact of distraction on pedestrians’ risky behaviour using an eye-tracker at an unsignalized intersection in Delhi. The risk assessment was done using Post-Encroachment Time (PET) measure. The results indicate that the use of mobile phone while crossing the road increased the chances of unsafe (PET < 1.5 s) pedestrian-vehicle interactions by approximately eight folds. Surprisingly, pedestrians who crossed the intersection at high speed had higher chances of unsafe interactions, whereas their increased crossing initiation time reduced the probability of unsafe interactions. Moreover, increased pupil diameter and fixating more on vehicles approaching from the right side resulted in a reduced probability of unsafe interactions. However, the high frequency of saccades and higher fixations on the crosswalk's right side negatively affected unsafe interactions. This study highlights that it is important to consider visual characteristics along with demographic and walking and traffic characteristics as they can provide in-depth insights into pedestrians’ road crossing behaviour that are required to design and implement effective countermeasures and policies.

Crashes involving distracted pedestrians: Identifying risk factors and their relationships to pedestrian severity levels and distraction modes

The concept of distracted pedestrians and its impact on highway safety has gained increasing attention in recent years. However, studies focusing exclusively on distracted pedestrian crashes are less pervasive than distracted driving. In addition, most prior studies investigate the harmful effect of cellphone usage while walking, without considering other forms of pedestrian distraction. Also, the existing literature provides limited knowledge on comprehending the affinities between pedestrian distraction and safety consequences. This study aims to reveal the chain of contributing factors involved in distracted pedestrian crashes, considering both pedestrian severity levels and specific distraction-related tasks. Ten years (2010–2019) of related crashes were extracted from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) database, and association rule mining (ARM) was applied to identify the meaningful crash patterns. Different distracting activities of pedestrians were introduced from the narratives of police-investigated crash reports. The study findings exhibit the complex nature of distracted pedestrian crashes by highlighting the intricate relationships between risk factors. On road segments, distracted male pedestrians aged 41–64 were more likely to be fatal/severely injured in dark-not-lighted conditions. Crashes involving pedestrians using electronic devices were often found at intersections. Distractions caused by pets, persons, or objects were strongly associated with crossing segments in rural settings. In-person conversation while standing on roadways in urban residential locations without traffic controls was found to increase vulnerability. Working on vehicles while wearing dark clothes and in dark-not-lighted conditions was identified as an influential factor in crash occurrence. Moreover, careless or inattentive actions of pedestrians while playing on the road segments were associated with a high likelihood of crashes. These study outcomes are crucial in uncovering the coexisting crash characteristics related to distracted pedestrians, which can be helpful in targeting and developing effective educational, design, and enforcement strategies to improve pedestrian safety.

The Impact of Pedestrian Distraction on Safety Behaviours at Controlled and Uncontrolled Crossings

To investigate differences in the safety behaviours of distracted and non-distracted pedestrians crossing roads, an unobtrusive observational study was conducted in Leicestershire, UK. Video recordings were taken of 1409 pedestrians crossing roads at controlled and uncontrolled crossing sites, both on a university campus and in urbanised town centre locations. On average, 42% of pedestrians were visibly distracted while crossing, and distracted pedestrians demonstrated significantly fewer safety behaviours than non-distracted pedestrians. They generally took longer to cross the road and made fewer looks towards the traffic environment, particularly at controlled crossings. Of all distraction activities, talking to another pedestrian had the most negative impact on safety behaviours. The findings highlight areas requiring further investigation, including distraction behaviours such as engaging with other pedestrians and supervising children. The results also identify that controlled crossings may benefit from targeted interventions to improve pedestrian safety.

Evaluating interventions for phone distracted pedestrians in a virtual reality environment

Pedestrian safety is a significant concern for transportation professionals, especially the risky behaviour of pedestrians using mobile phones, such as entering a road crossing illegally or entering the crossing with a delay. While several investigations have highlighted the significance of mobile phone distraction while walking and interventions developed to mitigate this risk, the effectiveness of such interventions remains unaddressed. This research, therefore, investigated the effects of two distraction warning strategies, in-ground flashing lights and phone app, in a simulator-based virtual reality environment (N = 26). The study was conducted with a repeated measure design where participants participated in three scenarios (two with interventions and one without) while conducting a visually distractive task on a mobile phone. Twelve road intersections in the Brisbane CBD (Australia) were replicated and equipped with in-ground flashing lights or a phone app where the mobile phone screen edge colour changes based on traffic light signalling. A control condition of no intervention was also used. Each intervention was assessed to be beneficial based on reaction time and behaviour. Results showed the reaction time while using in-ground flashing lights as an intervention to be shorter compared to the mobile phone app and the control condition. The impact of in-ground flashing lights is greater in reducing the number of intersections where pedestrians do not comply with traffic signals and undetected green cycles compared to the mobile app. However, in considering traffic lights status checks and gaze toward traffic before crossing, in the mobile phone app condition participants checked traffic lights and road traffic before crossing in more intersections than with in-ground flashing lights. This study has shown that both intervention techniques can be suitable to improve pedestrian awareness at intersections when distracted by a mobile phone. In an environment where reducing the use of mobiles is unlikely, these interventions could be implemented to decrease risky behaviours and should therefore improve pedestrians’ safety. Finally, this research highlighted that in-ground flashing lights could be an effective option to implement in the real-world and inform policymakers of the most effective intervention to implement and contribute to the development of evidence-based policies.

Modeling the Mutual Anticipation in Human Crowds With Attention Distractions

Human crowds exhibit rich self-organizing behaviors through local interactions. The understanding of interaction mechanisms has important implications for the management of large-scale crowds. Although most vision-based heuristic models are successful, some features such as distracted pedestrians, and empirical phenomena like sudden turns are difficult to be explained. Here, a heuristic interaction model is proposed, which incorporates the extracted laws of pedestrian heterogeneity and mutual anticipation. We argue that pedestrians are heterogeneous in terms of speed and attention (e.g., distracted by cell phones), and have anticipations for other pedestrians’ velocities during the interaction. Numerical simulations indicate that our model realistically simulates the self-organizing phenomenon in the “distraction experiment”, along with related experimental findings. The “freezing-by-heating” phenomenon, as well as interesting phenomena such as “sidewalk shuffling” are successfully predicted, as exhibited in empirical observations. Taken together, our model may serve various potential fields involving the control of traffic flows and navigation of autonomous swarm robots.

Do mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and self-reported mindfulness predict pedestrian beliefs on distracted walking?

Pedestrian distraction is a major causal factor reported in pedestrian fatalities worldwide. Even though many observational studies and laboratory-based research have been conducted to examine the influence of pedestrian distraction on road safety, there is little understanding of the determinants of pedestrian beliefs that influence distracted walking behaviour. The present study examines the associations of pedestrian beliefs related to engagement in mobile phone distraction with psychological factors such as mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and mindfulness. Five hundred and fifty-one participants completed a questionnaire about their distraction beliefs (behavioural, normative, and control), mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and mindfulness. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was developed to investigate the influence of mobile phone addiction, boredom proneness, and mindfulness on the three types of beliefs. Mobile phone addiction was significantly associated with behavioural beliefs (factor loading = 0.38) and control beliefs (factor loading = 0.23) but not with normative beliefs. Further, significant associations of boredom proneness were observed with all three types of beliefs: behavioural (factor loading = 0.15), normative (factor loading = 0.13), and control (factor loading = 0.15). Mindfulness showed significant relationships with normative beliefs (factor loading = 0.13) and control beliefs (factor loading = 0.11) but not with behavioural beliefs. This study is the first attempt to investigate the predictors of pedestrian distraction beliefs in the Indian context. The findings can assist the policymakers in understanding the pedestrian psychology behind their distracted walking behaviour.

Modeling the Influence of Smartphone Distraction and Pedestrian Characteristics on Pedestrian Road Crossing Behavior

With the increase in the use of technology, smartphone distraction has become a significant pedestrian safety issue. Research on pedestrian smartphone distraction has been conducted mainly in western countries, and there is a scarcity of research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study is the first attempt to investigate the effect of smartphone distraction on pedestrians’ road crossing behavior in India. We conducted a survey of pedestrians, with 560 respondents (63.4% males), about their demographics and walking characteristics, pedestrian behavior (violations, errors, lapses, aggressive behaviors, and positive behaviors), and smartphone distraction. The associations of smartphone distraction and pedestrian characteristics with pedestrians’ road crossing behavior were identified by developing structural equation models (SEMs). The strongest influence of smartphone distraction was found to be on violations (factor loading = 0.50), followed by errors (factor loading = 0.44), lapses (factor loading = 0.41), and aggressive behaviors (factor loading = 0.37). No significant effect of smartphone distraction was observed on the positive behaviors. Male pedestrians were more likely to commit violations, errors, lapses, and aggressive behaviors, whereas female pedestrians showed more positive behaviors. Older pedestrians showed more positive behavior than young pedestrians. Pedestrians who walk at high speeds tend to engage in a high number of violations. Pedestrians with a crash history were more likely to commit violations and show aggressive behaviors than those with no prior crash experience. The study findings can aid policymakers in understanding the smartphone distraction habits of pedestrians, which are required to design behavior-based road safety interventions.

Predictors of distractive activities to walking in Accra, Ghana

ABSTRACT Walking is a fundamental mode of transport for many people globally, with immense health and environmental benefits. However, increased walking is associated with an increased risk of road traffic crashes and injuries, especially where traffic enforcement is poor, and pedestrians could easily be distracted. Despite this, a plethora of evidence exists on driver distraction; however, there is a dread of evidence of pedestrian distraction (i.e. distracted walking), particularly in Africa. This paper uses a quantitative methodology to examine the predictors of distractive activities to walking in Accra, Ghana. The study surveyed 400 pedestrians within Accra’s Central Business District (CBD). A questionnaire was deployed via Kobo Toolkit and Jamovi was used in analysing the data. The study observed that three of the top four distractive activities to walking were digital devices-related (e.g. the use of mobile phones). We found that listening to music, making, receiving phone calls, and conversing with other people while walking are the main distractive activities. The binary logistic regression model found sex, age, level of education, occupation, reasons for walking, weekly time for walking and time for common trips as significant predictors of distractive activities to walking.

Studying the effect of built environment on traffic safety with random parameter and generalized ordered logit models

This work tried to better understand the factors behind severe and fatal injuries in pedestrian and vehicle accidents while giving a special attention to built environment parameters. Statistical models were applied on the traffic accident data reported by the traffic police in the emirate of Abu Dhabi over a period of 5 and a half years, between 2008 and 2013. A review of the literature on traffic accidents and injury levels showed that Random Parameter Logit models are well suited for pedestrian-vehicle accidents, while Generalized Ordered Logit models prove a good fit for vehicle-vehicle accidents. The models were completed using statistical analysis software STATA from Statacorp. The results of the modelling showed that overall pedestrians above 51 were at a higher risk of sustaining severe or fatal injuries, and that driver and pedestrian distraction was number one reason for pedestrian-vehicle accidents with around 64% of the total. Additionally, bad lighting condition was found to be directly correlated with higher injury levels among pedestrians. Meanwhile, it was observed that on motor ways accidents due to distracted driving were more probable than those in one-way streets, and pavements covered with sand had a negative impact on driver distraction. To better understand the driver behaviour among people in Kuwait, an online survey was conducted, and a total of 625 participants most of whom were females (399) completed it. The completed responses were inputted into SPSS, the statistical software from IBM, in order to look for correlations between the responses. The results showed that being a male and being a younger driver is strongly correlated with taking risks, violating traffic rules as well as driving aggressively. Therefore, to improve road safety in Kuwait, it is important to implement concepts similar to those found in the Abu Dhabi Urban Street Design Manual, followed by strict traffic law enforcement. In addition, conducting awareness campaigns at Universities and secondary school is needed to tackle the younger generation who will soon obtain their driving licenses.

What's that on Your Phone? Effects of Mobile Device Task Type on Pedestrian Performance.

The number of accidents due to distracted pedestrian is on the rise and many governments and institutions are enacting public policies which restrict texting while walking. However, pedestrians do more than just texting when they use their mobile devices on the go. Exploring pedestrian multitasking, this paper aims to examine the effects of mobile device task type on pedestrian performance outcomes. We performed two studies in lab simulations where 78 participants were asked to perform different tasks on a mobile device (playing a game, reading, writing an email, texting one person, group texting) while performing a pedestrian visual discrimination task while either standing or walking on a treadmill. Behavioral performance as well as neurophysiological data are collected. Results show that compared to a no-phone control, multitasking with any of the tasks on a mobile device leads to poor performance on a pedestrian visual discrimination task. Playing a game is the most cognitively demanding task and leads to the greatest performance degradation. Our studies show that multitasking with a mobile device has the potential to negatively impact pedestrian safety, regardless of task type. However, the impacts of different mobile device tasks are not all equivalent. More research is needed to tease out the different effects of these various tasks and to design mobile applications which effectively and safely capture pedestrians' attention. Public policy, infrastructure, and smart technologies can be used to mitigate the negative effects of mobile multitasking. A more thorough understanding of mobile device task-specific factors at play can help tailor these counter-measures to better aid distracted pedestrians.

Effectiveness of interventions for mobile phone distracted pedestrians: A systematic review

Introduction: Mobile phones are used universally due to their versatility and easy-to-use features; this includes when users are walking and when crossing streets. At intersections, using a mobile phone is a secondary task that can distract from the primary task of scanning the road environment and ensuring it is safe to traverse. Such a distraction has been shown to increase risky pedestrian behavior compared to non-distracted behavior. Developing an intervention to make distracted pedestrians aware of imminent danger is a promising approach to refocus pedestrians on their primary task and avoid incidents. Interventions have already been developed in different parts of the world, such as in-ground flashing lights, painted crosswalks, and mobile phone app-based warning systems. Method: A systematic review of 42 articles was performed to determine the effectiveness of such interventions. This review found that three types of interventions are currently developed, with differing evaluations. Interventions based on infrastructure tend to be evaluated based on behavioral change. Mobile phone-based apps tend to be evaluated on their ability to detect obstacles. Legislative changes and education campaigns are not currently evaluated. Further, technological development often occurs independently of pedestrians’ needs, reducing the likely safety benefits of such interventions. The interventions related to infrastructure mainly focus on warning pedestrians without considering pedestrian mobile phone use, potentially leading to numerous irrelevant warnings and reduced user acceptance. The lack of a comprehensive and systematic approach to evaluating these interventions is also an issue requiring consideration. Practical Applications: This review demonstrates that despite significant recent progress surrounding pedestrian distraction, more work is required to identify the most effective interventions to implement. Future studies with a well-designed experimental framework are necessary to compare the different approaches, and warning messages, and ensure the best guidance for road safety agencies.

Cost–benefit analysis of a distracted pedestrian intervention

ObjectiveCellphone ubiquity has increased distracted pedestrian behaviour and contributed to growing pedestrian injury rates. A major barrier to large-scale implementation of prevention programmes is unavailable information on potential monetary benefits....

Someone to Watch Over You: Using Bluetooth Beacons for Alerting Distracted Pedestrians.

In the United States, an estimated 7,005 (crude rate 2.13) pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This statistic is currently increasing annually and research suggests that distraction by smartphones may be a primary reason for the increasing number of pedestrian injuries and deaths. Timely interruptions may alert inattentive pedestrians and prevent fatalities. To this end, we developed StreetBit, a Bluetooth beacon-based system that warns distracted pedestrians with a visual and/or audible interruption when they approach a potentially dangerous traffic intersection while distracted by their smartphones. We posit that by using StreetBit, we can educate distracted pedestrians and elicit behavioral change to reduce or remove smartphone-based distractions when they enter and cross roadways. To demonstrate the feasibility of StreetBit, we conducted a field study with 385 participants. Results show that the system demonstrates adequate feasibility and behavior change in response to the StreetBit program.

A systematic review of observational studies investigating the influence of mobile phone distraction on road crossing behaviour of pedestrians

The growing prevalence of technological distractions amongst pedestrians makes it an important road safety concern. Observational studies are considered a reliable method to investigate the influence of mobile phone distraction on pedestrian road crossing behaviour and crash risks. The present study conducts a systematic review of international literature on pedestrian distraction observations by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 792 studies were identified from the literature search on six research databases: Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane library, and Transportation Research International Documentation (TRID). Finally, 39 research articles were assessed using the systematic classification scheme based on the following five research aspects: prevalence of mobile phone distraction, study locations, performance measures, analysis techniques, and additional factors associated with mobile phone use among pedestrians. Over 35% of the studies were conducted in the United States of America (USA) and 69% of the investigations were done in the last five years. Overall, the findings across the studies indicate that mobile phone distraction plays a major role in pedestrian risky road crossing behaviour and violation tendencies. Visual distractions (such as texting) exhibited higher behavioural impairment compared to cognitive distractions (e.g., listening to music, and conversations). Pedestrian characteristics such as gender and age were the key factors examined in 77% and 67% of the observational studies. Finally, important directions for future research are illustrated to aid the researchers working in the area of pedestrian safety.

Investigating the role of beliefs in influencing the hand-held and hands-free mobile phone use among pedestrians in India

Mobile phone distraction is a significant contributor to pedestrian injuries. However, mobile phone engagement among pedestrians has been scarcely explored in a developing country like India. The present study utilized the beliefs-based theory of planned behaviour to examine the association between pedestrian beliefs towards distracted walking (behavioural, normative, and control) and their mobile phone use frequencies. Based on a survey of 560 pedestrians (64.6% males), it was found that the major use of mobile phones was for listening to music (30.7%), followed by receiving a call (25%), making a call (18.9%), texting (9.8%), navigation (8.5%) and internet browsing (7.1%). A series of multivariate ANOVAs and logistic regression models were developed to investigate the relationships between the beliefs and frequencies of mobile phone use in hands-free and hand-held conditions. Significant multivariate differences were found for behavioural and normative beliefs in hands-free conditions and all three types of beliefs in hand-held conditions. The frequency of mobile phone use was significantly predicted by normative beliefs (p < 0.001) in the hands-free condition, and by behavioural (p = 0.041) and normative beliefs (p = 0.004) in the hand-held condition. The findings may assist the road safety countermeasures in addressing the issue of pedestrian distraction.

Impacts of visual and cognitive distractions and time pressure on pedestrian crossing behaviour: A simulator study

Distractions have been recognised as one important factor associated with pedestrian injuries, as the increasing use of cell phones and personal devices. However, the situation is less clear regarding the differences in the effects of visual-manual and auditory-cognitive distractions. Here, we investigated distracted pedestrians in a one-lane road with continuous traffic using an immersive CAVE-based simulator. Sixty participants were recruited to complete a crossing task and perform one of two distractions, a visual-manual task and an auditory-cognitive task. Moreover, normal and time pressure crossing conditions were included as a baseline and comparison. For the first time, this study directly compared the impacts of visual-manual, auditory-cognitive distractions, and time pressure on pedestrian crossing behaviour and safety in a controlled environment. The results indicated that although pedestrian safety was compromised under both types of distraction, the effects of the applied distractions were different. When engaged in the visual-manual distraction, participants crossed the road slowly, but there was no significant difference in gap acceptance or initiation time compared to baseline. In contrast, participants walked slowly, crossed earlier, and accepted smaller gaps when performing the auditory-cognitive distraction. This has interesting parallels to existing findings on how these two types of distractions affect driver performance. Moreover, the effects of the visual-manual distraction were found to be dynamic, as these effects were affected by the gap size. Finally, compared to baseline, time pressure resulted in participants accepting smaller time gaps with shorter initiation times and crossing durations, leading to an increase in unsafe decisions and a decrease in near-collisions. These results provide new evidence that two types of distraction and time pressure impair pedestrian safety, but in different ways. Our findings may provide insights for further studies involving pedestrians with different distraction components.

A Reinforcement Learning Approach for Enacting Cautious Behaviours in Autonomous Driving System: Safe Speed Choice in the Interaction With Distracted Pedestrians

Driving requires the ability to handle unpredictable situations. Since it is not always possible to predict an impending danger, a good driver should preventively assess whether a situation has risks and adopt a safe behavior. Considering, in particular, the possibility of a pedestrian suddenly crossing the road, a prudent driver should limit the traveling speed. We present a work exploiting reinforcement learning to learn a function that specifies the safe speed limit for a given artificial driver agent. The safe speed function acts as a behavioral directive for the agent, thus extending its cognitive abilities. We consider scenarios where the vehicle interacts with a distracted pedestrian that might cross the road in hard-to-predict ways and propose a neural network mapping the pedestrian&#x2019;s context onto the appropriate traveling speed so that the autonomous vehicle can successfully perform emergency braking maneuvers. We discuss the advantages of developing a specialized neural network extension on top of an already functioning autonomous driving system, removing the burden of learning to drive from scratch while focusing on learning safe behavior at a high-level. We demonstrate how the safe speed function can be learned in simulation and then transferred into a real vehicle. We include a statistical analysis of the network&#x2019;s improvements compared to the original autonomous driving system. The code implementing the presented network is available at <uri>https://github.com/tonegas/safe-speed-neural-network</uri> with MIT license and at <uri>https://zenodo.org/communities/dreams4cars</uri>.

Can automated driving prevent crashes with distracted Pedestrians? An exploration of motion planning at unsignalized Mid-block crosswalks

Pedestrian distraction may provoke severe difficulties in automated vehicle (AV) control, which may significantly affect the safety performance of AVs, especially at unsignalized mid-block crosswalks (UMCs). However, there is no available motion-planning model for AVs that considers the effect of pedestrian distraction on UMCs. This study aims to explore innovative approaches for safe and reasonable automated driving in response to distracted pedestrians with various speed profiles at UMCs. Based on two common model design concepts, two new models are established for AVs: a rule-based model that solves motion plans through a fixed calculation procedure incorporating several optimization models, and a learning-based model that replaces the deterministic optimization process with policy-gradient reinforcement learning. The developed models were assessed through simulation experiments in which pedestrian speed profiles were defined using empirical data from field surveys. The results reveal that the learning-based model has outstanding safety performance, whereas the rule-based model leads to remarkable safety problems. For distracted pedestrians with significant crossing-speed changes, rule-based AVs lead to a 5.1% probability of serious conflict and a 1.4% crash probability. The learning-based model is oversensitive to risk and always induces high braking rates, which results in unnecessary efficiency loss. To overcome this, a hybrid model based on the learning-based model was developed, which introduces a rule-based acceleration value to regularize the action space of the proposed learning-based model. The results indicate that the hybrid approach outperforms the other two models in preventing crash hazards from distracted pedestrians by employing appropriate braking behaviors. The high safety performance of the hybrid models can be attributed to the spontaneous slowing down of the vehicle that initiates before detecting pedestrians on UMCs. Although such a cautious driving pattern leads to extra delay, the time cost of the hybrid model is acceptable considering the significant improvements in ensuring pedestrian safety.

An integrated text mining, literature review, and meta-analysis approach to investigate pedestrian violation behaviours

The goal of this study is to provide an overview of previous research that investigated pedestrian violation behaviour, with a focus on identifying the contributing factors of such behaviour, its impact on pedestrian safety, the mitigation strategies, the limitations of current studies, and the future research directions. To that end, the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) text mining method was applied to extract a comprehensive list of studies that were conducted during the past 21 years related to pedestrian violation behaviours. Using the extracted studies, a multi-sectional literature review was developed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the different aspects related to pedestrian violations. Afterward, a meta-analysis was undertaken, using the studies that reported quantitative results, in order to obtain the average impact of the different contributing factors on the frequency of pedestrian violations. The study found that pedestrian violations are one of the hazardous behaviours that contribute to both the frequency and severity of pedestrian-vehicle collisions. According to the literature, the waiting time at the curbside, traffic volume, walking speed, pedestrian distraction, the presence of bus stops and schools, and the presence of on-street parking are among the key factors that increase the likelihood of pedestrian violations. The study has also reviewed a wide range of strategies that can be used to mitigate violations and reduce the safety consequences of such behaviour, including simple engineering-based countermeasures, enforcement, solutions that rely on advanced in-vehicle technologies, and infrastructure connectivity features, educational programs, and public campaigns.