Journal article
Improving the safety of distracted pedestrians with in-ground flashing lights. A railway crossing field study
Journal of Safety Research, Vol.77, pp.170-181
2021
PMID: 34092307
Abstract
Introduction: Current signage at intersections is designed for attentive pedestrians who are looking ahead. Such signage may not be sufficient when distracted by smartphones. Illuminated in-ground LED lights at crossings are an innovative solution to alert distracted pedestrians. Method: We conducted a field study at a railway crossing equipped with in-ground lights to assess whether distracted pedestrians (N = 34, Mean age 33.6 ± 8.6 years) could detect these lights and how this impacted on their visual scanning and crossing behaviour. This involved a 2 × 3 repeated measures design exploring the impact of the presence (treatment) or absence (control) of in-ground lights (treatment) at a crossing, and a distractor task presented through a mobile device (none, visual, and audio) on eye movements recorded using an eye tracker, and verbal reporting of when participants detected the lights. Results: Participants engaged in the distraction tasks as evidenced by their accuracy and reaction times in all conditions. With both the audio and visual distraction tasks, participants looked at the in-ground LEDs and detected their activation as accurately as when not distracted (95%). While most participants detected the lights at their activation, visual distraction resulted in 10% of the detections occurring as participants entered the rail corridor, suggesting effectiveness in gaining pedestrians’ attention. Further, participants were significantly less likely to check for trains when visually distracted (70%), a 10% reduction compared to the no or audio distractor conditions (80% and 78% respectively). The introduction of the in-ground lights resulted in appropriate scanning of the rail tracks (77% and 78% for the visual and auditory distractor tasks respectively) similar to that of non-distracted participants for the crossing without lights (80%). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that illuminated in-ground lights could be useful in attracting the attention of distracted pedestrians at railway level crossings, and possibly at other road intersections. Practical Applications: Illuminated in-ground lights can be installed at rail and road intersections with known pedestrian distraction as a countermeasure. Further research is necessary to understand their long-term effects.
Details
- Title
- Improving the safety of distracted pedestrians with in-ground flashing lights. A railway crossing field study
- Authors
- Grégoire S. Larue (Corresponding Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyChristopher N. Watling (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyAlexander Black (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyJoanne M. Wood (Author) - Queensland University of Technology
- Publication details
- Journal of Safety Research, Vol.77, pp.170-181
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jsr.2021.02.014
- ISSN
- 1879-1247
- PMID
- 34092307
- Organisation Unit
- School of Law and Society; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Road Safety Research Collaboration
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99679186102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
8 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Web Of Science research areas
- Ergonomics
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
- Transportation
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites