As they wait to turn left, sometimes taking a narrow opportunity to lunge into a stream of oncoming traffic, drivers focus most of their attention on the vehicular traffic and the traffic signal, rather than any pedestrians crossing the street, the research showed. The heavier the traffic, the less attention paid to pedestrians.
In a controlled analysis in a full-scale driving simulator that monitored specific eye movements, the engineers found that about one time in 10 or 20, the driver didn’t even look to see if a pedestrian was there before moving into the intersection. This suggests a major level of risk to pedestrians, researchers said, if they assume that drivers not only will look for them, but will allow them to cross the street.
The problem is aggravated by "permitted" left turn signals that vary widely, from state to state and sometimes even from one city to the next. Such turns might be allowed by a circular green light, a flashing circular yellow light, a flashing circular red light, or even a flashing yellow arrow. More consistent national standards regarding the flashing yellow arrow were recommended as recently as 2009, but the process of upgrading signals across the nation takes time.
The danger is sufficiently high, the researchers concluded, that more states and cities should consider prohibiting permitted left turns while pedestrians are allowed to be in the crosswalk. In Washington County, Ore., traffic managers recently did just that, after receiving a high number of complaints about pedestrian-vehicle conflicts.
"In traffic management you always have multiple goals, which sometimes conflict," Hurwitz said. "You want to move traffic as efficiently as possible, because there’s a cost to making vehicles wait. You use more fuel, increase emissions and waste people’s time. The permitted left turn can help with efficiency."
"But the safety of the traveling public is also critical," he said."“Sometimes the goal of safety has to override the goal of efficiency, and we think this is one of those times."
Also of some interest, the study found preliminary evidence to suggest that the currently-mandated type of signal, which uses four heads instead of three, offers no change in driver behavior. However, the cost to implement a four-head signal is about $800 more than retrofitting the three-head version, which is widely used around the nation. Many millions of dollars might be saved nationally by using the simpler signal.
The findings of these studies have been compiled in a report by OSU and Portland State University researchers to the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium, which funded the research. They will also be presented this year at the Driving Assessment Conference in New York and the Western District ITE meeting in Arizona.
OSU has a sophisticated driving simulator research facility, which allows test subjects to see, experience and react to realistic driving experiences while scientists study their reactions and behavior. This study was done with 27 subjects experiencing 620 permitted left turn maneuvers.
The report this story is based on is available online: http://bit.ly/kZJkWs
Photograph by Dan Burden, Miami Beach, FL. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC). The caption noted that older pedestrians or those with disabilities may have trouble crossing wide streets.
Pages: 1 · 2
More Articles
- Rose Madeline Mula Writes: I Feel Like That Carton of Milk In the Refrigerator Which Is Beyond Its Expiration Date
- GAO: Transportation Safety: DOT Has Taken Steps to Verify and Publicize Drug and Alcohol Testing Data But Should Do More
- Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), February 8th: This Early Stage of the COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out, Most Older Adults Have Not Yet Been Vaccinated As Supply Remains Limited
- How are States Prioritizing Who Will Get the COVID-19 Vaccine First? CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Released an Interim Recommendation For the Highest Priority Group
- Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden We’ve never backed a presidential candidate in our 175-year history — until now
- Stateline: Search and Rescue Teams, Already Stretched Thin, See Surge in Calls
- Pew Trust's Stateline: Staffing Nursing Homes Was Hard Before the Pandemic. Now It’s Even Tougher.
- Weekly National Summary of Week 50: Outpatient Illness Surveillance, Geographic Spread, Mortality Surveillance
- The Uber and Lyft of Dog Walking Fight State Oversight
- 4.7 Million Uninsured People Nationally Could Get a No-Premium Bronze Plan in the ACA Marketplace, Though Deductibles Would be High