Mitigation of Pedestrian–Vehicle Conflicts at Stop-Controlled T-Intersections

Because urban areas house 80% of the population and account for almost two-thirds of all pedestrian fatalities, making safe accommodation of pedestrians is a key priority in those locations. Crosswalks at T-intersections are a prime example of an intersection geometry in such areas that is challenging for drivers and pedestrians alike. Previous research has validated the advantages of advance yield markings over other, more common, unsignalized, midblock crosswalk treatments. Such markings could also prove effective at unsignalized T-intersection crosswalks, especially in multiple-threat situations where the driver's view of critical information is obscured by other yielding vehicles. For this study, a simulator was used to compare the effectiveness of advanced yield markings and standard crosswalk markings on drivers’ behaviors at unsignalized T-intersections. Measures of scanning behaviors were gathered with an eye tracker, and measures of stopping or yielding behaviors were gathered from simulator data. Crosswalks in the simulated world were located on the near and the far sides of the side street (from the participant driver's perspective). A vehicle obstructing the driver's view of pedestrians in the crosswalk was placed in either the left travel lane or the right travel lane. There was a main effect of the treatment (advance yield markings were more safe) and the location of the crosswalk (the far side was more safe). There was an interaction between the treatment and the location of the obstruction (advance yield markings had an effect on glances only when the obstructing vehicle was in the left travel lane). The findings from the study have clear implications for practice.