Research pick: Navigating better pedestrian safety - "Analysis of driving behaviour for right-turn manoeuvres at intersections with different types of traffic participants"

A study in the International Journal of Vehicle Safety has looked at driver behaviour during turning manoeuvres at road junctions (intersections). The work raises concerns about pedestrian safety, particularly when several vehicles are involved in making the same turn.

Shoko Oikawa, Yuta Kusakari, and Naoyuki Kubota of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, and Yasuhiro Matsui of the National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory, in Chofu, Tokyo, Japan, used a driving simulator to replicate five different traffic scenarios. They hoped to better understand how various factors, such as the presence of pedestrians and other vehicles, influence how drivers approach and navigate junctions.

The team saw a rather troubling issue: when three vehicles were turning ahead of a driver, the speed at which the driver entered and moved through the junction increased. This scenario also led to a decrease in the amount of time drivers spent looking for pedestrians, which in turn points to a higher risk of them hitting someone crossing the road on foot. Moreover, the driver’s attention was focused mainly on the movements of other vehicles, with scant attention paid to the presence of pedestrians. Thus, in turning, many drivers seem to assume dangerously that the road is clear when it is patently not.

In some countries, laws are in place to help protect pedestrians crossing at junctions. Some of those tell drivers that they must give way to someone about to cross before they make their own turn. However, the behaviour revealed in the study suggests that if drivers are not even aware of the presence of pedestrians at a junction, then no amount of law-making without enforcement will reduce the risk to pedestrians in this situation.

The team points out that Japan has major traffic safety issues, with pedestrian fatalities a major concern. In 2023, pedestrian deaths accounted for well over a third of all traffic-related fatalities, many of those occurred at junctions. The findings mesh with previous studies, that also found that the presence of other vehicles on the road can divert a driver’s attention and increase the risk of pedestrian accidents.

While many modern cars have technology in place that is aware of obstacles and even pedestrians, this will be compromised by the presence of other vehicles as well as by driver inattention. There is this a need for more effective safety measures to be put in place, particularly at busy junctions where cars and pedestrians meet in often unpredictable ways.

Oikawa, S., Kusakari, Y.,Matsui, Y. and Kubota, N. (2024) ‘Analysis of driving behaviour for right-turn manoeuvres at intersections with different types of traffic participants’,Int. J. Vehicle Safety, Vol. 13, No. 5, pp.1–13.