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E-scooters are quite popular among young people in big cities. Their use seems to be a well-studied phenomenon. This study concentrates on the risky behaviour of e-scooter riders and on e-scooter riders' and non-riders' attitudes towards risky e-scooter riding. The goals were to describe these attitudes and to describe the most common types of risky e-scooter behaviours in five participating countries. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed in Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Norway from June to September 2020. Respondents were recruited through sponsored Facebook ads and participant sharing (snowball sampling). The riders in the countries considered in this study tend to perceive e-scooters as being quite safe. The majority of them even think e-scooters pose no danger to other road users. On the other hand, the non-riders believe riding an e-scooter is rather unsafe, with the exception of Belgium, where the respondents tend to think that it is very unsafe. When risky behaviour is considered, the non-riders tend to report more risky behaviour than e-scooter riders, even though fact-based observable behaviour, e.g. helmet use, should in principle be the same across both groups. In addition, as the existing literature shows, evidence suggests that young riders and male riders engage in more risky riding behaviours in comparison to older and female riders. This phenomenon should be addressed by effective preventive programmers and campaigns. The data shows that a greater frequency of riding predicted more risky riding behaviours. Although there are some differences between the samples under study, these findings can inspire police officers to promote e-scooter safety behaviour.

• Mobile phone use while driving remains a road safety concern for road transport authorities. • The driving context plays a role in the decision to engage in mobile phone use while driving. • Even after the intention to use the mobile phone while driving is formed, the moment where engagement occurs will be determined by the demands of the driving context. Mobile phone use is one of the most frequent causes of distraction among drivers. While there have been a significant number of studies that have examined individuals' intentions to use a mobile phone while driving, the influence of individuals' in-situ judgement of driving conditions has received considerably less attention. The aim of this investigation was to provide a systematic understanding of how factors associated with the driving context and environment influence a driver's decision to engage in mobile phone use while driving. Following a systematic classification scheme, 41 research articles from the years 2011 to 2020 were reviewed and synthesised to identify the contextual determinants of mobile phone distraction. Overall, the findings provided support for the role that contextual features play in influencing individuals' mobile phone use engagement. This finding was particularly the case in instances where mobile phone tasks required relatively high cognitive and physical demands on an individual, such as texting and/or reading mails. The findings also indicated that as contextual complexity increases, mobile phone use decreases as well. A deeper understanding of the relationship between contextual factors and phone use while driving may aid in the design of more efficient driver support systems and the development of distraction-sensitive road design guides. This understanding can also assist in the identification of mobile phone use hotspots and the improvement of law enforcement and educational strategies to prevent the behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-scooters are quite popular among young people in big cities. Their use seems to be a well-studied phenomenon. This study concentrates on the risky behaviour of e-scooter riders and on e-scooter riders' and non-riders' attitudes towards risky e-scooter riding. The goals were to describe these attitudes and to describe the most common types of risky e-scooter behaviours in five participating countries. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed in Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Norway from June to September 2020. Respondents were recruited through sponsored Facebook ads and participant sharing (snowball sampling). The riders in the countries considered in this study tend to perceive e-scooters as being quite safe. The majority of them even think e-scooters pose no danger to other road users. On the other hand, the non-riders believe riding an e-scooter is rather unsafe, with the exception of Belgium, where the respondents tend to think that it is very unsafe. When risky behaviour is considered, the non-riders tend to report more risky behaviour than e-scooter riders, even though fact-based observable behaviour, e.g. helmet use, should in principle be the same across both groups. In addition, as the existing literature shows, evidence suggests that young riders and male riders engage in more risky riding behaviours in comparison to older and female riders. This phenomenon should be addressed by effective preventive programmers and campaigns. The data shows that a greater frequency of riding predicted more risky riding behaviours. Although there are some differences between the samples under study, these findings can inspire police officers to promote e-scooter safety behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the display information of head-up displays for vehicles has gradually developed from single-depth to multi-depth. To reduce the workload of driving and the number of eye adjustments, researchers use the visual perception of human eyes to realize the image information integrated with the real world. In this study, HoloLens2 is used to demonstrate head-up displays of different depths. An electroencephalogram, an electro-ophthalmogram, and a NASA-TLX questionnaire were used to evaluate the fatigue of drivers during long-term driving. The results showed that a dual-depth head-up display could effectively reduce the driver's workload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Elderly drivers often face safety challenges due to age-related declines in cognitive, sensory, and motor functions. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) offer a potential solution by enhancing safety and mobility. Objectives and method: This systematic review investigates the factors influencing the perception and usage of ADAS among elderly drivers, focusing on perceived safety, usefulness, trust, and ease of use. Results: Older adults show a preference for Level 1 ADAS, which they perceive as safer. Although they acknowledge the usefulness of ADAS in supporting their autonomy, skepticism remains regarding higher-level systems, primarily due to concerns about reliability and invasiveness. Trust and ease of use are essential factors influencing their acceptance. The review identifies common themes and barriers to the adoption of these technologies and emphasizes the need for senior-friendly interfaces and targeted training. The findings indicate that addressing these issues can significantly improve the safety and mobility of elderly drivers. The successful adoption of ADAS among older adults depends on balancing safety, control, and ease of use, with gradual and supportive integration fostering greater acceptance and trust. Conclusions: This study outlines practical implications for stakeholders, emphasizing the need for user-friendly ADAS design, public awareness campaigns, government incentives, insurance discounts, and community training to enhance adoption among older drivers.

AbstractAutonomous personal mobility vehicle (APMV) is a miniaturized autonomous vehicle designed for short-distance mobility to everyone. Due to its open design, APMV’s passengers are exposed to communications between the external human-machine interface (eHMI) on APMV and pedestrians. Therefore, effective eHMI designs for APMV need to consider potential impacts of APMV-pedestrian interactions on passengers’ subjective feelings. This study from the perspective of APMV passengers discussed three eHMI designs: (1) graphical user interface (GUI)-based eHMI with text message (eHMI-T), (2) multimodal user interface (MUI)-based eHMI with neutral voice (eHMI-NV), and (3) MUI-based eHMI with affective voice (eHMI-AV). In a riding field experiment (N = 24), eHMI-T made passengers feel awkward during the “silent time” when eHMI-T conveyed information exclusively to pedestrians, not passengers. MUI-based eHMIs with voice cues showed advantages, with eHMI-NV excelling in pragmatic quality and eHMI-AV in hedonic quality. Considering passengers’ personalities and genders in APMV eHMI design is also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the display information of head-up displays for vehicles has gradually developed from single-depth to multi-depth. To reduce the workload of driving and the number of eye adjustments, researchers use the visual perception of human eyes to realize the image information integrated with the real world. In this study, HoloLens2 is used to demonstrate head-up displays of different depths. An electroencephalogram, an electro-ophthalmogram, and a NASA-TLX questionnaire were used to evaluate the fatigue of drivers during long-term driving. The results showed that a dual-depth head-up display could effectively reduce the driver’s workload.

The objective of this research was to analyze psychological tests conducted in cities in the state of Paraná in the year 2019, focusing on cognitive aspects. For this purpose, we examined 1009 records from clinics accredited to the State Traffic Department of Paraná (DETRAN-Pr). The results, inherent to the characterization of the expertise, pointed out that the participants had an average age of 27 years, 44.4% had completed secondary education, 72.2% were first-time applicants, and 61% had the A/B category. Twelve types of standardized Psychological Assessment instruments were found. The results indicated that participants exhibited an average performance in these instruments, and there was a significant correlation between the main constructs investigated. These findings suggest that, in addition to maintaining cognitive skills, providing driver education starting from elementary school could significantly contribute to enhancing road safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driver Aggression is a phenomenon many have studied in all five continents. It has been the focus of curiosity for all sorts of disciplines, and science has been unable to curb it, much less park it. Driver Stress, Road Aggression and Road Rule-Breaking are crucial elements in traffic psychology. Those who do not respect the rules are a major factor in increased risk and the occurrence of major traffic accidents. Little work has been done on how these phenomena behave in Spanish-speaking countries, much less the development of useful instruments to evaluate them. This study aims to generate two unique scales that can be used in Spanish speaking countries regardless of culture or geography, as well as determining the influence Driver Stress has on Driver Aggression and Rule-Breaking. This study comprises a sample of 1827 drivers from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Spain. Through this paper, a small yet significant relationship was found between Driver Stress, Driver Aggression, and Driver Rule-Breaking. This suggests that personality factors are at play in these relationships in Spanish-speaking countries, and that these variables are an important factor on how drivers behave. This study also delivers two useful tools for evaluating Driver Aggression (LatinCAT) and Driver Rule-Breaking (LatinDANT) that have excellent construct validity for further research in Spanish-speaking countries.

Bottleneck roads with narrowed width often only allow one vehicle to pass at once. In this situation, human drivers need to negotiate their right-of-way via, e.g., hand gestures and eye contact. However, when a human-driven vehicle (MV) confronts a driver-less automated vehicle (AV), explicit communication between drivers is no longer possible. External human–machine interfaces (eHMIs) on AVs may facilitate communication in unobscured situations, but MV-drivers can fail to perceive the eHMI information on the AV with other vehicles in front of the AV, blocking the MV’s view. Even if the visibility is not impaired, AV broadcast communications do not target on specific receivers, it is not unlikely that other vehicles may wrongly perceive this information. Instead, an internal human–machine interface (iHMI) can uni-cast the AV intention to MVs since the information on iHMIs is direct to MV-drivers and visible in visibility-blocked situations. However, iHMIs require vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology, and the conveyed information might not be highly trusted as the information is transmitted to MVs rather than being seen directly from AVs. Therefore, this paper proposes a synchronous iHMI+eHMI method for a more unambiguous communication in this multi-vehicle bottleneck road situation. The designed iHMI+eHMI is compared with the baseline i.e., without HMI, iHMI, and eHMI in a video-based driving simulation by subjective evaluations from structured questionnaires. The results (N=24) indicate that HMIs (iHMI, eHMI, and iHMI+eHMI) are more helpful than vehicles without any HMI for the AV-MV communication, and iHMI+eHMI achieves the best performance when the views of MV-drivers are obscured.

One of the human-caused factors that decreases traffic safety is road rage behaviors. Many of the behaviors thought to be indicative of road rage are clearly intended to be aggressive. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of road rage incidents experienced by road users both as victims and perpetrators. Furthermore, the goal was to investigate the impact of various and other factors on road rage behaviors in the past year. The questionnaire was completed by 633 individuals who agreed to participate in the study and reside in Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara. All of the participants were Turkish, aged 19–76 years (M = 37.84 years, SD = 10.10); 57.3% were females, and 42.7% were males. The survey application was started with ethical approval. Using the snowball sampling method, a survey link or paper pencil forms were distributed to participants. Participants were requested to fill out the questionnaire form including information and various forms of road rage. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis. Using the SPSS 28 program, all data were statistically analyzed to a significance level of p

Electric scooters (e-scooters) have become a popular phenomenon internationally; however, their use has raised concerns about pedestrian safety. This study describes the possible effects of the emergence of e-scooters on pedestrians. We focus on the interaction, conflicts, crashes, and attitudes between pedestrians and e-scooter riders and pedestrians' perceived safety in the presence of e-scooters. Data were collected from e-scooter riders and non-riders (n = 3385) through an online survey in Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Norway, and Sweden. Around 20–30% of e-scooter riders rode on sidewalks, whether it is allowed or not. Non-riders of e-scooters tended to report that riding an e-scooter is rather dangerous. Pedestrians, except Australian ones, perceived e-scooter riders (and e-scooter operation) as annoying. Half of the e-scooter riders had experienced a near miss at some point in the past and more than 50% of these near misses included another road user. Up to 10% of the e-scooter riders from all five countries reported having experienced a crash. On the basis of these findings, we believe that the most relevant suggestions for the implications in sustainable (urban) mobility involve separating e-scooter riders and pedestrians.

• Attitude towards watching videos on phones while driving predicts intention. • Perception about state law doesn't determine watching videos while driving. • State law on distracted driving doesn't determine watching videos while driving. • Drivers think entertainment is the biggest benefit of watching videos while driving. • Drivers should be required to pass a course on distracted driving. This is a two-part mixed methods study that investigated motivations for watching videos on mobile phones while driving. We make three theoretical contributions in this paper. First, we specifically examine watching videos on mobile phones while driving, whereas previous studies examine calling, texting, monitoring messages, and using apps. Second, we specifically focus on waiting at intersections and driving in parking lots; parking lots have not been studied in previous studies. Third, we incorporate perception about the law into the Theory of Planned Behavior model as a predictor of intention. The quantitative survey yielded responses measuring each variable in our extended Theory of Planned Behavior model. We found that although people don't watch videos on their phones while driving as much as they text or converse, the rates of watching are disturbingly high (41% watch at intersections). The intention to watch while driving is a significant predictor of behavior, and attitude is a significant predictor of intention in both scenarios. Moral norms are significant predictors of intention in the parking lot scenario. Nearly half (48%) of drivers don't know their state laws regarding mobile phone use while driving. Neither knowledge about state law with respect to watching videos on mobile phones while driving nor the actual state law about using handheld devices while driving is a significant predictor of the intention to watch videos while driving. The qualitative survey yielded open-ended responses on drivers' salient beliefs about watching videos on mobile phones while driving. We propose using a multitude of laws to reduce mobile phone use while driving, and requiring drivers to take a short course on distracted driving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After an extensive review of the literature and his own empirical studies investigating the effect of culture on risk perception, Sjöberg (1998) concluded that the cultural theory simply is wrong and therefore, dead. However, other researchers and studies tend to also suggest that culture theory still has a significant explanatory power. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to gather new evidence using a different analysis technique to contribute to resolving this inconclusive conclusion. Data were gathered from 226 commercial vehicle drivers and were classified based on their transport-specific worldview or culture. A general linear model fitting using one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the respondents on their transport-specific risk perception. Results of the cluster analysis showed that there were three clusters of drivers which were labelled as “Traditional-Conformists” (Cluster III drivers), “Adventurists” (Cluster II drivers) and “Moderates” (Cluster I). The ANOVA results further showed that Traditional-Conformist (Cluster III) drivers reported more accurate perception of risk compared to the Moderates (Cluster I) and the Adventurists (Cluster II). The findings were discussed in context of the ongoing debate about the explanatory power of culture in accounting for differences in risk perception. The implications for future research were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern times, with mass transportation systems, driver fatigue has become one of the main causes of traffic accidents. The development of intelligent transportation systems holds great promise for safety. Increasingly, policies, laws, and regulations will consider artificial intelligence applications for minimising driver fatigue. This study presents the basic features of facial recognition systems applied to driver fatigue monitoring, as well as their comparative strengths and limitations. Traffic psychology has much to offer road safety from driver fatigue applying deep learning algorithms to reduce traffic accidents and ensure traffic safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic lights are critical in regulating traffic flow and modulate the level of service and road user safety. As suggested by studies conducted with pedestrians, traffic light spacing and signal congruency could also impact a driver's decision-making process. However, requirements related to designing signalized intersections do not always consider the spacing between two consecutive traffic lights or the congruency of the information displayed. Here, using a classic traffic psychology paradigm, we developed a hybrid Go/No-go Flanker PC-based task to explore how traffic light spacing and signal congruency modulate drivers’ decisions in urban intersections. Real images of road intersections were edited to reproduce two specific conditions between traffic lights. Specifically, we manipulated both spacing (short vs. long) and congruency (congruent [e.g., red-red/green-green steady light] vs. incongruent [e.g., red-green/green-red steady light]). We found that incongruent information, displayed on short spacing traffic signals, delayed drivers’ responses without being detrimental to their decision-making processes. The results of this exploratory study could offer guidance to transportation engineers to simplify traffic light information readability and increase drivers’ awareness of traffic conditions and road safety.

In the past year and a half, we have been forced to make many major changes which, besides other issues, have led to considerable changes in transport mode choices. While we observed an increase in the share of cars as a mode of transport, we also observed an increase in the level of engagement in other active mobility modes, such as walking and cycling. Relevant literature shows that although the restrictions adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic have effects on people's mobility behaviour, they can be viewed as a catalyst for positive changes as far as active forms of mobility are concerned. This work focuses on the thorough understanding of the changes in citizens' needs and attitudes toward mobility and transport mode choice during the COVID-19 pandemic. To reach this aim, we analysed the responses to an interview consisting of eight open-ended questions about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic threat and situation of citizens in selected European countries and Russia. In total, 497 respondents participated by responding to an online questionnaire. The conclusions of this study confirmed that active traffic modes could benefit from the momentum generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this can only happen if appropriate preconditions can be provided, which is not the case so far. To prevent a massive return of private motorised vehicles into urban centres, we must focus on support for active traffic modes, specifically on the improvement of the preconditions, especially as far as traffic infrastructure is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Increasing the use of non-motorized modes of transport, such as walking, is a worldwide objective aimed at improving the sustainability of cities. However, pedestrians may not choose to walk if the infrastructure fails to meet their needs or if they hold unfavourable perceptions regarding the built environment (BE). The current study aims to identify the significance of route attributes and perceptions of attractiveness, safety, and security at the route level, which influence pedestrians' preferences for last-mile route choices. A cross-sectional design was employed, utilizing a questionnaire comprising a stated preference (SP) experiment and a perception survey. The study considered theory-informed attributes influencing pedestrian route choice preferences, including: (1) individual-level determinants, (2) physical-level determinants, and (3) time of day. Two separate models were developed, considering the time of day, to examine the differences in trade-offs within pedestrians' route choice preferences between day and night. The results revealed that both the BE and perceptions of the BE play a crucial role in determining pedestrian route choice behaviour. Pedestrians showed a preference for routes fully encompassed by mixed or residential land uses during the daytime. The presence of vacant land along the walking route significantly decreased the likelihood of choosing a route at night. Generally, pedestrians favoured shorter walking times, lower posted speed limits, and comfortable walkway grades in their routes. Female pedestrians tended to avoid routes that were not well-lit and pleasant at night. Lowering roadway speed limits emerged as a strategy to encourage walking in suburban areas. The findings of this study hold the potential to play an essential role in the development of effective policy initiatives targeted at pedestrians in cities. • Built environment and individual-level factors influence pedestrian route choice. • Pedestrians prefer walking on a route fully contained in mixed land uses. • Time of day significantly affects the perception of choosing the last-mile route. • Lower speed limits promote suburban walking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An experimental paradigm is introduced to study road user interaction. • The effects of right of way and time gap on interaction are studied extensively. • Pedestrians crossed first more often at higher time gaps and marked crossings. • Pedestrians' decisions were affected mostly by the approaching vehicle's kinematics. • Personality traits showed a limited effect on interaction at unmarked crossings. One of the current challenges of automation is to have highly automated vehicles (HAVs) that communicate effectively with pedestrians and react to changes in pedestrian behaviour, to promote more trustable HAVs. However, the details of how human drivers and pedestrians interact at unsignalised crossings remain poorly understood. We addressed some aspects of this challenge by replicating vehicle–pedestrian interactions in a safe and controlled virtual environment by connecting a high fidelity motion-based driving simulator to a CAVE-based pedestrian lab in which 64 participants (32 pairs of one driver and one pedestrian) interacted with each other under different scenarios. The controlled setting helped us study the causal role of kinematics and priority rules on interaction outcome and behaviour, something that is not possible in naturalistic studies. We also found that kinematic cues played a stronger role than psychological traits like sensation seeking and social value orientation in determining whether the pedestrian or driver passed first at unmarked crossings. One main contribution of this study is our experimental paradigm, which permitted repeated observation of crossing interactions by each driver-pedestrian participant pair, yielding behaviours which were qualitatively in line with observations from naturalistic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The empirical research on the COVID-19 epidemic's consequences suggests a major drop in human mobility and a significant shift in travel patterns across all forms of transportation. We can observe a shift from public transport and an increase in car use, and in some cases also increase of cycling and (less often) walking. Furthermore, it seems that micromobility and, more generally, environmentally friendly and comanaged mobility (including shared services), are gaining ground. In previous research, much attention was paid to the mode choice preferences during lockdown, or early stages of the SARS-CoV-2 situation. The blind spot, and aim of this work, is how long observed changes in mode choice last and when or if we can expect the mode choice to shift back to the situation before the SARS-CoV-2 episodes. The research sample consisted of 636 cases; in total, 10 countries contributed to the sample examined in this study. The data were collected in two phases: the first in the spring of 2020 and the second in the fall of the same year. Results showed that respondents reduced mobility by car, local public transport and walking, but not bicycling during the lockdown, compared to the time before the pandemic started. When the easing came, respondents assessed their own use of the car and walking as almost back to normal. They also reported an increase in the use of public transport, but not reaching the level prior the pandemic by far. It seems that cycling was affected least by the pandemic; use of a bicycle hardly changed at all. As for the implication of our study, it is evident that special attention and actions will be needed to bring citizens back to public transport, as it seems that the impact of the pandemic on public transport use will last much longer than the pandemic itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]