Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviour

Pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at intersections are considered as a major source of injuries and fatalities. Intersections are a critical part of roadway design since pedestrians are exposed to different and potentially dangerous activities due to how an intersection is designed, but also what the ped...

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Main Authors: Mohsen Miladi, E. Owen D. Waygood, Marie-Soleil Cloutier, Bobin Wang, Zeinab Ali Yas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:IATSS Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0386111225000196
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author Mohsen Miladi
E. Owen D. Waygood
Marie-Soleil Cloutier
Bobin Wang
Zeinab Ali Yas
author_facet Mohsen Miladi
E. Owen D. Waygood
Marie-Soleil Cloutier
Bobin Wang
Zeinab Ali Yas
author_sort Mohsen Miladi
collection DOAJ
description Pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at intersections are considered as a major source of injuries and fatalities. Intersections are a critical part of roadway design since pedestrians are exposed to different and potentially dangerous activities due to how an intersection is designed, but also what the pedestrian is doing and where in the city they are. In this study, various influences on risky crossing behaviour are examined. At the individual level, the influence of distractions and where people are looking before crossing are tested. Further, various intersection design variables including wait time, intersection size and speed limits, and contextual variables such as the built environment nearby and traffic flow are examined. The data was gathered by observing pedestrians at 24 intersections in Montreal and Quebec City (12 each). Logistic regression models were estimated to determine the influencing variables on four dangerous behaviours: a) start on red, b) finish on red, c) finish on red having started on green, and d) cross completely on red. Results demonstrate the importance of wait time on risky crossing behaviour with short wait times (< 30s) decreasing the likelihood of such behaviours considerably. For individual behaviour, having a cellphone in one's hand reduces the likelihood of starting to cross on red. In contrast, looking at traffic was over four times more associated with crossing illegally.
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publisher Elsevier
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series IATSS Research
spelling doaj-art-c6ffb47240a441ea88417204e00eb4232025-08-20T03:29:03ZengElsevierIATSS Research0386-11122025-07-0149222023010.1016/j.iatssr.2025.05.001Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviourMohsen Miladi0E. Owen D. Waygood1Marie-Soleil Cloutier2Bobin Wang3Zeinab Ali Yas4Department of Civil, Geotechnical, and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, CanadaDepartment of Civil, Geotechnical, and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, CanadaInstitut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Centre - Urbanisation Culture Société (UCS), Canada; Corresponding author.Department of Civil, Geotechnical, and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, CanadaInstitut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Centre - Urbanisation Culture Société (UCS), CanadaPedestrian-vehicle conflicts at intersections are considered as a major source of injuries and fatalities. Intersections are a critical part of roadway design since pedestrians are exposed to different and potentially dangerous activities due to how an intersection is designed, but also what the pedestrian is doing and where in the city they are. In this study, various influences on risky crossing behaviour are examined. At the individual level, the influence of distractions and where people are looking before crossing are tested. Further, various intersection design variables including wait time, intersection size and speed limits, and contextual variables such as the built environment nearby and traffic flow are examined. The data was gathered by observing pedestrians at 24 intersections in Montreal and Quebec City (12 each). Logistic regression models were estimated to determine the influencing variables on four dangerous behaviours: a) start on red, b) finish on red, c) finish on red having started on green, and d) cross completely on red. Results demonstrate the importance of wait time on risky crossing behaviour with short wait times (< 30s) decreasing the likelihood of such behaviours considerably. For individual behaviour, having a cellphone in one's hand reduces the likelihood of starting to cross on red. In contrast, looking at traffic was over four times more associated with crossing illegally.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0386111225000196DistractionHead movementWaiting timeCellphoneIllegal crossingIntersection
spellingShingle Mohsen Miladi
E. Owen D. Waygood
Marie-Soleil Cloutier
Bobin Wang
Zeinab Ali Yas
Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviour
IATSS Research
Distraction
Head movement
Waiting time
Cellphone
Illegal crossing
Intersection
title Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviour
title_full Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviour
title_fullStr Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviour
title_full_unstemmed Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviour
title_short Distractions or long waits? Impacts on risky crossing behaviour
title_sort distractions or long waits impacts on risky crossing behaviour
topic Distraction
Head movement
Waiting time
Cellphone
Illegal crossing
Intersection
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0386111225000196
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AT eowendwaygood distractionsorlongwaitsimpactsonriskycrossingbehaviour
AT mariesoleilcloutier distractionsorlongwaitsimpactsonriskycrossingbehaviour
AT bobinwang distractionsorlongwaitsimpactsonriskycrossingbehaviour
AT zeinabaliyas distractionsorlongwaitsimpactsonriskycrossingbehaviour