Distracted Pedestrian Behavior on two Urban College Campuses.

Pedestrian injuries injure about 180,000 individuals and kill 6000 each year in the United States, and pedestrian injury rates have increased each of the last several years. Distracted pedestrian behavior may play a role in the trend of increasing risk for pedestrian injury. Using in vivo behavioral coding over the course of  two weeks on two urban college campuses, this study aimed to (1) understand the type and rate of distractions engaged in by pedestrians on urban college campuses, and (2) investigate the impact of distraction on street-crossing safety and behavior. A total of 10,543 pedestrians were observed, 90% of them young adults. Over one-third of those pedestrians were distracted while actively crossing roadways. Headphones were the most common distraction (19% of all pedestrians), followed by text-messaging (8%) and talking on the phone (5%). Women were more likely to text and talk on the phone than men, and men were more likely to be wearing headphones. Distracted pedestrians were somewhat less likely to look for traffic when they entered roadways. As handheld device usage continues to increase, behavioral interventions should be developed and implemented. Changes to policy concerning distracted pedestrian behavior, including improvement of the built environment to reduce pedestrian risk, should be considered in busy pedestrian areas like urban college campuses.

Experiential exposure to texting and walking in virtual reality: A randomized trial to reduce distracted pedestrian behavior.

BACKGROUND: Distracted pedestrian behavior is a significant public health concern, as research suggests distracted pedestrians have significantly higher risk of injury compared to fully attentive pedestrians. Despite this, efforts to reduce distracted pedestrian behavior are scant. OBJECTIVE: Using a repeated measures experimental research design, we implemented a behavioral intervention to reduce distracted pedestrian behavior in the high-risk environment of an urban college campus and simultaneously monitored behavior on a control urban college campus not exposed to the intervention. We had two primary aims: reduce perceived vulnerability to injury among individual pedestrians and reduce distracted pedestrian behavior in the environment through a change in community-based norms. METHODS: The hallmark of the behavioral intervention was a week-long opportunity for community members to experience personally the risks of distracted pedestrian behavior by attempting to cross a virtual pedestrian environment street while text-messaging. This was supplemented by traditional and social marketing and publicity through various campus partners. A sample of 219 individuals completed self-report surveys about perceived vulnerability to distracted pedestrian injury before experiencing the distracted virtual street-crossing and again after 2 weeks and 5 months. Observational assessment of distracted pedestrian behavior was conducted at a busy intersection on the campus as well as at a control campus not exposed to the intervention at baseline, post-intervention, 10 weeks, and 6 months. RESULTS: The intervention achieved mixed results. Individuals exposed to texting within a simulated pedestrian environment reported changes in their intentions to cross streets while distracted and in perceived vulnerability to risk while crossing streets, but we did not witness evidence of changed community norms based on observed rates of distracted pedestrian behavior before and after the intervention compared to a control campus not exposed to the intervention. DISCUSSION: The intervention created some change in self-reported intentions and thoughts but did not create significant behavior change on the campus exposed to it. Further efforts to develop interventions that will yield a reduction in distracted pedestrian behavior are needed.

The deterioration of driving performance over time in drivers with untreated sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea increases risk of driving crashes when left untreated. This study examined the driving performance decrements of untreated, undiagnosed sleep apnea drivers compared with healthy controls in a monotonous highway driving simulator task. It was hypothesized that the sleep apnea group would perform worse during a driving simulator test compared with the control group. A significant group by time interaction occurred indicating that sleep apnea participants' performance degraded more quickly over the course of the drive. In contrast with previous studies, this sleep apnea group did not include sleep disorder center patients, but rather community volunteers whose screening indicated a significant apnea/hypopnea index of 15 or greater. There may be inherent differences between patients and nonpatients with sleep apnea, as patients may have a more significant impact on their quality of life, causing them to seek treatment. Still, the results are clear that although the sleep apnea group drove similarly to the control group at the start of the drive, they are sensitive to time on task effects. These results support the need to diagnose and treat sleep apnea.

An investigation of state population characteristics that moderate the relationship of state seat belt law and use in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: Primary enforcement laws have been shown to be effective methods for increasing seat belt use at the state level. METHOD: This study investigates state differences in the effectiveness of primary enforcement laws by assessing whether a state's academic achievement, health ranking, economic prosperity, violent crime rates, government effectiveness, gender distribution, or proportion of rural roads moderate the relationship between those laws and seat belt compliance rates. RESULTS: Aggregate state-level academic achievement, health ranking, government effectiveness, and proportion of rural roads uniquely moderated the seat belt use differences between primary and secondary enforcement states. CONCLUSIONS: This evidence suggests that cultural, social, and demographic differences among regions may be important factors in explaining state-level differences in the effectiveness of primary enforcement of seat belt laws.

Effectiveness of a program using a vehicle tracking system, incentives, and disincentives to reduce the speeding behavior of drivers with ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: In this article, the authors investigated the effectiveness of a behavior modification program using global positioning system (GPS) vehicle tracking devices with contingency incentives and disincentives to reduce the speeding behavior of drivers with ADHD. METHOD: Using an AB multiple-baseline design, six participants drove a 5-mile stable driving route weekly while GPS devices recorded speeds. The dependent variable was percentage of feet speeding. Following an initial baseline period, five participants received treatment. One participant remained at baseline. RESULTS: Visual inspection of individual participant graphs, reductions in mean percentages of speeding from baseline to treatment across participants (M = 82%), C-statistic analyses, and visual graphs with applied binomial formula supported a treatment effect. The between-participant analysis using R n Test of Ranks was significant, R n = 6, p < .01, and complemented a clean multiple-baseline result. CONCLUSION: Results indicated that this treatment program was effective in reducing speeding by drivers with ADHD and warrants replication.

Turning off the cameras: Red light running characteristics and rates after photo enforcement legislation expired.

In 2005 the Virginia legislature allowed the law permitting automated enforcement for red light running violations to expire. An opportunity presented itself to evaluate what would happen to red light running behavior at formerly enforced locations. Using intersections previously studied to document one city's deployment and use of photo enforcement (see Martinez and Porter, 2006), we mobilized multiple pre-expiration, immediate post-expiration, and one year post-expiration observations at camera-enforced intersections as well as two control groups consisting of same-city and a different city's non-camera locations. More than 2700 direct observations were made in these time periods, documenting the near-immediate increase in red light running at previously camera-enforced intersections. These intersections had a rate that nearly tripled immediately after the law expired, and more than quadrupled one year later. Further, within a year of the law's expiration, the low red light running rates at the previous-camera locations had recidivated to red light running rates of the control locations. Driver characteristics were not significant predictors of these rates once intersection group and traffic volume (and their interaction) were controlled, meaning red light running in this study was not linked to a particular driver type. Our results are important for scholars of intersection safety, as this is the first known peer-reviewed study documenting estimates of what could happen when automated enforcement is removed.

Evaluation of the Boost 'em in the Back Seat Program: using fear and efficacy to increase booster seat use.

OBJECTIVES: Recent research supports the use of high-threat messages when they are targeted appropriately and designed to promote high efficacy as well as fear. This research examined the effectiveness of using a novel threat-appeal approach to encourage parents to place their children in booster seats and rear seats of vehicles. METHOD: A 6-min video-intervention was created and evaluated at after-school/daycare centers via an interrupted time series design with similar control sites for comparison. Caregivers (N=226) completed knowledge and practice surveys and fear and efficacy estimations related to childhood motor vehicle hazards. Researchers observed booster-seat and rear-seat use in study site parking lots. RESULTS: Compared to baseline and control assessments, the treatment groups' child passenger safety knowledge, risk-reduction attitudes, behavioral intentions, sense of fear related to the hazard, and sense of efficacy related to the recommended behaviors increased significantly. Further, observed overall restraint use and booster-seat use increased significantly following the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Applying high-threat messages to child passenger safety interventions is promising and has the potential to be adapted to other health risk areas.

Characterizing red light runners following implementation of a photo enforcement program.

Red light running causes about 260,000 crashes and 750 fatalities each year in the US (Retting, Ulmer, & Williams, 1999, Accident Analysis & Prevention). This study investigated the effects of photo enforcement cameras on reducing red light running and characterized the typical red light runner throughout photo enforcement program implementation. In Southeast Virginia, eight intersections were observed over an 8-month period during which photo enforcement cameras were installed at three sites. To assess spillover effects, three other sites served in a same city comparison group. Two additional sites from a nearby city served in a control group for city. Over 1750 light cycles were observed with red light running occurring at least once during 13% of these cycles. Predictors of red light runners included being at a site without a camera or at an intersection before deployment of cameras, being under the age of 26, being in the non-camera city, not using a safety belt, and driving in more traffic. While overall red light running decreased at camera sites, characteristics of the typical red light runner remained the same at camera and non-camera locations.

In-car cell phone use and hazards following hands free legislation.

OBJECTIVE: A new law took effect in Finland at the beginning of 2003 which prohibits the handheld use of mobile phones while driving a motor vehicle. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the law on phone usage and self-reported safety during the first few months and 16 months later to determine whether the initial level of compliance with the law had been sustained. METHODS: Data were collected by Gallup home poll before (spring 2002) and after legislation took effect (spring 2003 and 2004). A representative sample of drivers who owned a cell phone (n = 836 to 966) was interviewed each time. On-road observations were also collected in four cities for 2003 and 2004. RESULTS: Just after the law, 97% of drivers were aware of the new hands free legislation. In sharp contrast to the pre-law rate of 16%, 43% reported not using the phone while driving immediately after the law and 41% one year later. The occasional users especially reduced their use of phones while driving. The law was correlated to reductions in self-reported handheld use of cell phones while driving, from 55.6% pre-law to 15.2% immediately after passage. In spite of this change, however, the hands free legislation did not reduce self-reported involvement of Finnish drivers in phone-related hazards. Handheld usage was still lower in 2004 than pre-law (20.0%), but the 32% increase from 2003 was significant. Observational data collected in Finland in 2003 and 2004 showed an even higher upward trend in handheld use (87% increase, from 3.1% to 5.8%; pre-law data were not available), and matched a similar increase reported by McCartt and Geary (2004) in their observational evaluation of New York's handheld mobile phone law. CONCLUSION: The self-reports indicate that the hands-free law reduced handheld phone use, among occasional users especially, but did not reduce phone-related hazards. The effect of the law on phone use substantially declined within one year.