Conference paper
A self-report study of factors influencing decision-making at rail level crossings: Comparing car drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians
Proceedings of the 2013 Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference, pp.1-11
Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education (ARSRPE) Conference: Vision, Action, Results, 2013 (Brisbane, Australia, 28-Aug-2013–30-Aug-2013)
Australasian College of Road Safety
2013
Abstract
Collisions at rail level crossings (RLXs) represent a major challenge for both road safety and rail safety professionals. RLX collisions are typically high-severity and high-cost, often involving multiple injuries and/or fatalities as well as major disruptions to the transportation network. Most research examining road users' behaviour at RLXs has focused exclusively on drivers and consequently there is little existing knowledge on how other road users make decisions at RLXs. We designed a longitudinal survey to prospectively record interactions at RLXs over a two-week period. The sample included 166 adults residing in metropolitan Melbourne (80%) and regional Victoria (20%), with a mix of car drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. Respondents completed the survey daily and provided a detailed account of any encounters with trains and/or activated RLX warnings, with the survey prompts based on a cognitive task analysis methodology. The results reveal that both experiences and behaviour at RLXs differ substantially across different road users. Visual information (e.g., flashing lights) emerged as one of the most influential factors for car drivers and motorcyclists, whereas pedestrians and to a lesser extent cyclists relied more on auditory information (e.g., bells) to alert them to the presence of a train. Pedestrians were also more likely than other road users to speed up and cross the tracks ahead of an approaching train. Overall these results emphasise the importance of designing road systems to support cognition and behaviour across a range of road users, in order to ensure a safe system for all.
Details
- Title
- A self-report study of factors influencing decision-making at rail level crossings: Comparing car drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians
- Authors
- Vanessa Beanland (Author) - Monash UniversityM G Lenne (Author) - Monash UniversityPaul M Salmon (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and BusinessNeville A Stanton (Author) - University of Southampton, United Kingdom
- Publication details
- Proceedings of the 2013 Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference, pp.1-11
- Conference details
- Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education (ARSRPE) Conference: Vision, Action, Results, 2013 (Brisbane, Australia, 28-Aug-2013–30-Aug-2013)
- Publisher
- Australasian College of Road Safety
- Date published
- 2013
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2013 The Author. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. This paper can be found in the online database of papers for this conference at http://acrs.org.au/publications/conference-papers/database/.
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99448820802621
- Output Type
- Conference paper
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