How does time pressure influence the situational awareness and risky crossing behavior of pedestrians?

Abstract

In the urban environment, the need to save time frequently causes pedestrians to make rapid decisions while crossing the street, which can have serious repercussions. To minimize potential hazards, pedestrians must have better situational awareness of the surrounding area. However, when they are under time pressure, their behavior changes considerably as a result of hurried decisions, indicating shifts in their cognitive concentration and decision-making procedures. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effects of varying time pressure levels (no time pressure (NTP), low time pressure (LTP) and high time pressure (HTP)) and other potential variables on four situational awareness indicators: (i) looking towards traffic before crossing, (ii) looking at signal before crossing, (iii) looking towards traffic while crossing and, (iv) looking at signal while crossing. Additionally, the research examines the consequences of their decisions by evaluating the relationship of risky crossing events (safe crossing, near-misses and crashes) with time pressure and situational awareness. Key findings revealed that time pressure has no significant effect on pedestrians' attention towards traffic before crossing

however, it does lower their attention towards traffic while crossing. Furthermore, failing to look towards oncoming vehicles led to risky crossings under the NTP condition. However, under the LTP and HTP conditions, crossing without looking towards vehicles elevated the risk even higher, indicating that a combination of urgency and lack of attention significantly raises the possibility of risky events. Based on the findings, the current study proposed mitigation measures and policy recommendations to raise awareness of pedestrians. © © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.