Sponsor
This project was funded by a National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) ‘‘Small Starts’’ Grant 2012-733. The Grant is part of the University Transportation Center (UTC) program funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). This paper extends the final report written in accordance with the requirements of that Grant.
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
2015
Subjects
Traffic safety -- Oregon -- Portland, Pedestrians -- Oregon -- Portland, Race discrimination
Abstract
Psychological and social identity-related factors have been shown to influence drivers’ behaviors toward pedestrians, but no previous studies have examined the potential for drivers’ racial bias to impact yielding behavior with pedestrians. If drivers’ yielding behavior results in differential behavior toward Black and White pedestrians, this may lead to disparate pedestrian crossing experiences based on race and potentially contribute to disproportionate safety outcomes for minorities. We tested the hypothesis that drivers’ yielding behavior is influenced by pedestrians’ race in a controlled field experiment at an unsignalized midblock marked crosswalk in downtown Portland, Oregon. Six trained male research team participants (3 White, 3 Black) simulated an individual pedestrian crossing, while trained observers cataloged the number of cars that passed and the time until a driver yielded. Results (88 pedestrian trials, 173 driver-subjects) revealed that Black pedestrians were passed by twice as many cars and experienced wait times that were 32% longer than White pedestrians. Results support the hypothesis that minority pedestrians experience discriminatory treatment by drivers at crosswalks.
More information can be found at: http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/13084
DOI
10.1016/j.trf.2015.06.002
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/16818
Citation Details
Goddard, Tara; Kahn, Kimberly Barsamian; and Adkins, Arlie, "Racial Bias in Driver Yielding Behavior at Crosswalks" (2015). Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations. 14.
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/16818
Description
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Volume 33, August 2015, Pages 1-6 and can be found online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2015.06.002
© 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/