Gender and age-related differences in attitudes toward traffic laws and traffic violations

The study examined gender and age-related differences in drivers’ normative motives for compliance with traffic laws and in gain–loss considerations related to driving. Two age groups of male and female students, totaling 181 respondents, completed a questionnaire measuring several normative motives for compliance with traffic laws, perceived gains and danger involved in the commission of traffic violations, and the frequency of committing various driving violations. The results show that younger drivers and male drivers express a lower level of normative motivation to comply with traffic laws than do female and older drivers. The lowest level of perceived importance of traffic laws relative to other laws was found among young male drivers. The commission of traffic violations was found to be related more to the evaluation of traffic laws among men and younger drivers, compared to women and older drivers. The perceived danger involved in the commission of a driving violation, however, was found to constitute much more of a factor among women than among men before the commission of traffic violations. Perceived gains involved in the commission of violations were more strongly pronounced among older drivers than among younger drivers. Results are discussed concerning different types of attitude–behavior relationships in the context of driving.     

Auditory localisation of conventional and electric cars: Laboratory results and implications for cycling safety

When driven at low speeds, cars operating in electric mode have been found to be quieter than conventional cars. As a result, the auditory cues which pedestrians and cyclists use to assess the presence, proximity and location oncoming traffic may be reduced, posing a safety hazard. This laboratory study examined auditory localisation of conventional and electric cars including vehicle motion paths relevant for cycling activity. Participants (N = 65) in three age groups (16–18, 30–40 and 65–70 year old) indicated the location and movement direction (approaching versus receding) of cars driven at 15, 30 and 50 km/h in two ambient sound conditions (low and moderate). Results show that low speeds, higher ambient sound level and older age were associated with worse performance on the location and motion direction tasks. In addition, participants were less accurate at determining the location of electric and conventional car sounds emanating from directly behind the participant. Implications for cycling safety and proposals for adding extra artificial noise or warning sounds to quiet (electric) cars are discussed.     

Investigations into pedestrian crossing choices on Cape Town freeways

South Africa is regularly identified in international literature as one of the countries with the highest number of traffic deaths per capita. Of these, around one third are pedestrians. Freeways constitute one of the highest risk locations for pedestrians – in most developed countries pedestrians are not seen in such locations, but for many South African pedestrians freeways are a regular part of their commute. Walking alongside and crossing of freeways are extremely common – and deaths associated with such activity also tragically so. Over the past four years in the Cape Town area alone there have been 413 pedestrian crashes causing 139 pedestrian deaths on freeways, as well as an unrecorded number of serious injuries.While pedestrian crossing behaviour has been extensively researched in many parts of the world, almost none has so far been carried out in the context of freeways. Little is known about pedestrian crossing decisions in locations where the stakes are so high.Following a study using traffic cameras associated with the Freeway Management System to measure the frequency and location of pedestrians crossing freeways, this article reports on surveys into crossing decisions of pedestrians on Cape Town’s freeways. Two successive surveys were conducted with pedestrians on or alongside the freeway. These included pedestrians who crossed using footbridges, and pedestrians who crossed at grade.In the analysis it was clear that while some of the traditional factors such as time saving and convenience were considered, far more important to pedestrians were issues of safety. Safety from fast-moving vehicles was one factor, while safety from criminals was a second and often conflicting factor which affected crossing choices. Crossing at grade was partly described in terms of utility maximisation (time and distance saving) but it was also, for many, one way of avoiding becoming a victim of crime. In terms of their perceptions of being involved in crashes, at-grade crossers reflected an astute awareness of the risks that they face. Many pedestrians articulated the belief that their choice of crossing was constrained by lack of alternatives. Until public transport and safe crossing locations are provided for these pedestrians it is clear that many will continue to cross dangerous roads, in full awareness of the risks they face.     

A simulator study of factors influencing drivers’ behavior at traffic lights

Drivers’ reactions to changing traffic lights have an impact on safety at intersections. We examined the influence of transient factors – more specifically time pressure and social context, both conducive to traffic-light violation – on behavior behind the wheel when a traffic light changes. We carried out an experiment on a driving simulator. The participants were 94 car drivers (53 males) with a mean age of 21.7 years. They drove under time pressure vs. no time pressure. At several intersections the participants were alone (no other drivers present), whereas at several other intersections they were behind a line-up of vehicles, the last of which ran the yellow light (other drivers present). As expected, time pressure and social context (presence of other drivers) increased participants’ risky behaviors while approaching, and going through traffic lights, as well as undesirable rapid accelerations when the signal changes to green. The effect of time pressure on yellow-light running was not mediated by approach speed, which showed that participants in a hurry were likely to run lights intentionally. The results are interpreted in view of proposing effective measures for reducing yellow-light running and rapid accelerations at traffic lights.     

Is gaze behaviour in a laboratory context similar to that in real-life? A study in bicyclists

Numerous laboratory-based studies recorded eye movements in participants with varying expertise when watching video projections in the lab. Although research in the lab offers the advantage of internal validity, reliability and ethical considerations, ecological validity is often questionable. Therefore the current study compared visual search in 13 adult cyclists, when cycling a real bicycle path and while watching a film clip of the same road. Dwell time towards five Areas of Interest (AOIs) is analysed. Dwell time (%) in the lab and real-life was comparable only for the low quality bicycle path. Both in real-life and the lab, gaze is predominantly driven towards the road. Since gaze behaviour in the lab and real-life tends to be comparable with increasing task-complexity (road quality), it is concluded that under certain task constraints laboratory experiments making use of video clips might provide valuable information regarding gaze behaviour in real-life.     

The effect of fatigue driving on car following behavior

Existing fatigued driving analysis methods mainly focus on lateral driving performance by using the measurements related to the steering wheel or lane position. There is a lack of research on longitudinal car following behavior. In this study, 40 professional drivers are invited to participate in field expressway driving experiment, lasting at least for 6 h. During the test, their performance is measured in terms of their self-reported fatigued driving level according to the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), the PERcentage of eye CLOSures (PERCLOS) and the Time Headway (THW). Then the effects of the fatigued driving level on car following behavior are evaluated. The results indicate that the fatigue level (for both KSS and PERCLOS) has significantly impact on THW parameters, including the mean, standard deviation and minimum THW. An increase in KSS and PERCLOS leads to a lower mean and minimum THW. Meanwhile, the standard deviation of THW increases with the increase of KSS and PERCLOS. In conclusion, this study found that a higher fatigue level leads to the driver keeping a smaller THW when following another vehicle and choosing shorter THW to make lane change. More deviation of car following performance was also found with the increase of fatigue level. Therefore, the findings of this study can be used to explain fatigue as one of the major reasons for rear-end collisions. Also, the research findings demonstrate the impact of fatigue on driving behavior in terms of car following performance, which can be used as a measurement for monitoring fatigued drivers.     

The role of traffic law enforcements in the relationship between cultural variables and traffic fatality rates across some countries of the world

The aims of the present study were to investigate whether cultural variables are related to law enforcements as well as traffic fatality rates and to examine the role of law enforcements of five risk factors for road safety (i.e., national speed law, national drink-driving law, national motorcycle helmet law, national seat-belt law, and national child restraint law) in the relationship between cultural variables and traffic fatality rates across countries of the world. The aggregated data of the study included Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Schwartz’s value dimensions, law enforcements of five risk factors for road safety, gross national income per capita, and traffic fatality rates for 97 countries of the world. The results showed that most of the cultural variables were associated with law enforcements of five risk factors for road safety and traffic fatality rates of countries. By bootstrapping, among Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, it was found that the indirect effects of long-term orientation (LTO) on fatality rates (FR) through speed, helmet, and child restraint enforcements were significant, separately. Among Schwartz’s value dimensions, the indirect effects of embeddedness on fatality rates through speed and child restraint enforcements were significant, separately. Intellectual autonomy had also significant indirect effects on fatality rates via speed and child restraint enforcements, separately. Finally, it was found that the indirect effects of affective autonomy on fatality rates through speed and helmet enforcements were significant, separately.     

Speed-calming measures and their effect on driving speed – Test of a new technique measuring speeds based on GNSS data

Speeding increases the risk and severity of accidents, especially for vulnerable road users. Hence, minimisation of speeding in built-up areas is vital. Some countries widely use speed-calming measures (SCs). Documentation shows that SCs reduce speeding considerably although various types and designs of SCs affect this reduction. This paper includes studies of the effects from establishment of sinus speed humps of height 10 cm and length 950 cm and chicanes (with a free carriageway width of 5.30 cm and a length between the 0.5 m wide obstacles of 18 m) as a before/after study where the speed pattern after establishing SCs is compared with the one before. Floating Car Data used for analyses includes 3216 trips passing one/more SCs. The main results are that the effect from SCs decreases with the distance from the SCs and that a clear pattern is hard to establish above 75 m from the SC. Despite the apparent absence of more distant effects of each SC, there is an overall reduced average speed on the full length of a road with SCs. Humps reduce the mean speed comparable to the reduction from chicanes, but the speed variation is less reduced near chicanes, and especially prior to the arrival to such SC. Due to different traffic patterns around the two types of SCs, a direct comparison between the effects from humps and chicanes cannot be made. A tentative result at least for the two types of SCs studied is that the chicane results in a reduced effect on speed variation compared to the hump. The chicanes result in increased speed variation prior to the arrival to the SC compared to the humps. Hence, the indication is that chicanes might be less safe than humps due to speed variation although more research is needed especially concerning developing of best practice design for speed reducing devices and other speed-calming measures in built-up areas.     

The implications of low quality bicycle paths on the gaze behaviour of young learner cyclists

In a recent study, Vansteenkiste et al. (2014) described how low quality bicycle paths cause an apparent shift of visual attention from distant environmental regions to more proximate road properties. Surprisingly, this shift of visual attention was not accompanied by an adaptation in cycling speed. The current experiment investigated to what extent these findings are applicable for young learner bicyclists (aged 6–12 years). Since young learner bicyclists do not yet have mature visual and motor skills, it was expected that the implications of a poor road surface would be larger for them than for experienced adult bicyclists. In general, children looked less to the road and more to task irrelevant regions, but the magnitude of the shift of visual attention when cycling on a low quality bicycle track was similar to that of adults. Although children cycled slower than adults, they did not cycle slower on the low quality track compared to the high quality track. Overall, our results suggest that children displayed a different visual-motor strategy than adults, characterized by lower cycling speeds and a different visual behaviour, and that they responded in a similar way to a low quality bicycle path as adults.