Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.

Human behaviour is an obvious, yet under-studied factor in pedestrian injury. Behavioural interventions that address rule violations by pedestrians and motorists could potentially reduce the frequency of pedestrian injury. In this study, a method was developed to examine road-rule non-compliance by...

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Main Authors: Jonathan Cinnamon, Nadine Schuurman, S Morad Hameed
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3115980?pdf=render
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author Jonathan Cinnamon
Nadine Schuurman
S Morad Hameed
author_facet Jonathan Cinnamon
Nadine Schuurman
S Morad Hameed
author_sort Jonathan Cinnamon
collection DOAJ
description Human behaviour is an obvious, yet under-studied factor in pedestrian injury. Behavioural interventions that address rule violations by pedestrians and motorists could potentially reduce the frequency of pedestrian injury. In this study, a method was developed to examine road-rule non-compliance by pedestrians and motorists. The purpose of the study was to examine the potential association between violations made by pedestrians and motorists at signalized intersections, and collisions between pedestrians and motor-vehicles. The underlying hypothesis is that high-incident pedestrian intersections are likely to vary with respect to their aetiology, and thus are likely to require individualized interventions--based on the type and rate of pedestrian and motorist violation.High-incident pedestrian injury intersections in Vancouver, Canada were identified using geographic information systems. Road-rule violations by pedestrians and motorists were documented at each incident hotspot by a team of observers at several different time periods during the day.Approximately 9,000 pedestrians and 18,000 vehicles were observed in total. In total for all observed intersections, over 2000 (21%) pedestrians committed one of the observed pedestrian road-crossing violations, while approximately 1000 (5.9%) drivers committed one of the observed motorist violations. Great variability in road-rule violations was observed between intersections, and also within intersections at different observation periods.Both motorists and pedestrians were frequently observed committing road-rule violations at signalized intersections, suggesting a potential human behavioural contribution to pedestrian injury at the study sites. These results suggest that each intersection may have unique mechanisms that contribute to pedestrian injury, and may require targeted behavioural interventions. The method described in this study provides the basis for understanding the relationship between violations and pedestrian injury risk at urban intersections. Findings could be applied to targeted prevention campaigns designed to reduce the number of pedestrian injuries at signalized intersections.
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spelling doaj.art-a3303e1fdf114a779d9eed88d0efcae22022-12-22T01:34:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-0166e2106310.1371/journal.pone.0021063Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.Jonathan CinnamonNadine SchuurmanS Morad HameedHuman behaviour is an obvious, yet under-studied factor in pedestrian injury. Behavioural interventions that address rule violations by pedestrians and motorists could potentially reduce the frequency of pedestrian injury. In this study, a method was developed to examine road-rule non-compliance by pedestrians and motorists. The purpose of the study was to examine the potential association between violations made by pedestrians and motorists at signalized intersections, and collisions between pedestrians and motor-vehicles. The underlying hypothesis is that high-incident pedestrian intersections are likely to vary with respect to their aetiology, and thus are likely to require individualized interventions--based on the type and rate of pedestrian and motorist violation.High-incident pedestrian injury intersections in Vancouver, Canada were identified using geographic information systems. Road-rule violations by pedestrians and motorists were documented at each incident hotspot by a team of observers at several different time periods during the day.Approximately 9,000 pedestrians and 18,000 vehicles were observed in total. In total for all observed intersections, over 2000 (21%) pedestrians committed one of the observed pedestrian road-crossing violations, while approximately 1000 (5.9%) drivers committed one of the observed motorist violations. Great variability in road-rule violations was observed between intersections, and also within intersections at different observation periods.Both motorists and pedestrians were frequently observed committing road-rule violations at signalized intersections, suggesting a potential human behavioural contribution to pedestrian injury at the study sites. These results suggest that each intersection may have unique mechanisms that contribute to pedestrian injury, and may require targeted behavioural interventions. The method described in this study provides the basis for understanding the relationship between violations and pedestrian injury risk at urban intersections. Findings could be applied to targeted prevention campaigns designed to reduce the number of pedestrian injuries at signalized intersections.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3115980?pdf=render
spellingShingle Jonathan Cinnamon
Nadine Schuurman
S Morad Hameed
Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.
PLoS ONE
title Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.
title_full Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.
title_fullStr Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.
title_full_unstemmed Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.
title_short Pedestrian injury and human behaviour: observing road-rule violations at high-incident intersections.
title_sort pedestrian injury and human behaviour observing road rule violations at high incident intersections
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3115980?pdf=render
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AT nadineschuurman pedestrianinjuryandhumanbehaviourobservingroadruleviolationsathighincidentintersections
AT smoradhameed pedestrianinjuryandhumanbehaviourobservingroadruleviolationsathighincidentintersections