Can visibility difference between driver and pedestrian lead to crash?

Abstract

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users. Some studies have verified that the visibility difference between pedestrians and drivers can lead to pedestrian–vehicle crashes at night when pedestrians cross the road. This paper considered the influences of the ratio of driver and pedestrian visibility, the vehicle original speed, the pavement friction coefficient and the vehicle mass on crashes when the pedestrians go through the road during night, and analysed the vehicle movement process and the collision speed and crash severity under different conditions. Besides, the special conditions considering driver characteristics, roadway features and vehicle features were analysed, respectively. From the results, it is observed that the collision speed and crash severity is higher when the ratio of driver and pedestrian visibility is smaller, the original speed is higher and pavement friction coefficient is higher. Moreover, from the results, the least distance between vehicles is also obtained. This study will make some contribution to the traffic safety improvement.

Keywords:

• Traffic safety
• Traffic crash
• Friction coefficient
• The ratio of driver and pedestrian visibility

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge suggestions and comments of editors and reviewers, acknowledge the papers cited, acknowledge these authors’ comments and acknowledge the advice of Dr. Wang about this study.