engleski

Impact Of Social and Technological Distraction on Pedestrian Crossing Behaviour: A Case Study in Enna, Sicily

The safety of pedestrians in the city depends on numerous factors such as crossing habits (traffic behaviour, traffic culture), infrastructural elements and overall traffic conditions. Among the most critical urban areas are those near pedestrian crosswalks with traffic lights. Several studies focus on collecting pedestrian and infrastructure data through a combination of video recording and manual counting and/or the administration of interviews or surveys. Among the factors analysed are pedestrian crossing behaviour, pedestrian volume, waiting time, risk and infrastructure elements and other influential parameters. The literature shows that there are gender and age differences. Although the number of accidents involving pedestrians distracted by their smartphones is certainly rarer when compared to driver-related accidents, it is essential to investigate this kind of distraction and analyze possible strategies for its mitigation. Children are more likely to cross the road in groups and, there are evidence, that group can be a distractor too. There is also evidence of behavioural characteristics, i.e., pedestrians who use a mobile phone while crossing the road have a higher violation rate and are more likely to be late. A comparison of national and international studies shows that cognitive distraction among pedestrians resulting from phone use reduces risk awareness and increases dangerous behaviour. Many actions are generally performed by pedestrians’ mobile phones, such as receiving calls, writing and sending e- mails, text messages and instant or voice messages, listening to music, watching videos and podcasts, using social networks and taking photos. All these actions people of all age groups (and in particular the under-15s) are inclined to do wherever there is reception, regardless of environmental circumstances. The age of children approaching the web and social networks is dropping dramatically. The results show that pedestrians who use mobile phones tend to be distracted and disregard signs, and those who use them while crossing the road have a reduced speed that puts them at greater risk of an accident. The analysis of a case study confirmed some of the results already known in the literature and laid the foundations for further investigations such as questionnaires to pedestrians and the analysis of other urban crossings in high density areas such as offices, banks and schools.

social distraction ; smartphone distraction ; pedestrian safety ; alert addiction ; statistical analysis

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