Pedestrians Accept Shorter Distances to Light Vehicles Than Dark Ones When Crossing the Street. (May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Feldstein, Ilja T.; Peli, Eli
• Is Part Of: Perception. Volume 49:Number 5(2020)
• Page Start: 558
• Page End: 566
• Publication Date: 2020-05
• Subjects: street crossing -- vehicle brightness -- collision judgment -- velocity judgment -- immersive virtual environment -- time-to-contact -- time-to-arrival -- time-to-collision -- virtual reality -- pedestrian simulator -- simulator validation; Perception -- Periodicals; Perception -- Periodicals; Perception; Periodicals; 153.705
• DOI: 10.1177/0301006620914789
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0301-0066

Abstract

Does the brightness of an approaching vehicle affect a pedestrian's crossing decision? Thirty participants indicated their street-crossing intentions when facing approaching light or dark vehicles. The experiment was conducted in a real daylight environment and, additionally, in a corresponding virtual one. A real road with actual cars provides high face validity, while a virtual environment ensures the scenario's precise reproducibility and repeatability for each participant. In both settings, participants judged dark vehicles to be a more imminent threat—either closer or moving faster—when compared with light ones. Secondary results showed that participants accepted a significantly shorter time-to-contact when crossing the street in the virtual setting than on the real road.