Deciding when to cross in front of an autonomous vehicle: How child and adult pedestrians respond to eHMI timing and vehicle kinematics.

How autonomous vehicles (AVs) communicate their intentions to vulnerable road users (e.g., pedestrians) is a concern given the rapid growth and adoption of this technology.

How do bicyclists respond to vehicles with adaptive headlamp systems? A nighttime study in an immersive virtual environment.

Introduction: The risk of motor vehicle-bicyclist crashes and fatalities is greater during nighttime than daytime lighting conditions, even though there are fewer cyclists on roadways at night. Vehicle Adaptive Headlamp Systems (AHS) aim to increase the visibility of bicyclists for drivers by directing a spotlight to illuminate bicyclists on or near the roadway. AHS technology also serves to alert bicyclists to the approaching vehicle by illuminating the road beneath the rider and by projecting a warning icon on the roadway.

Rates and predictors of teen driver crash culpability.

Background: Motor-vehicle crash risk is highest among teen drivers. Despite a wealth of research on the topic, there are still many contributors to these crashes that are not well understood. The current study sought to examine the contribution of graduated driver licensing (GDL) restrictions, sex, age, roadway circumstances, and citation history to teen drivers' crash culpability.

How children judge affordances when walking and bicycling across virtual roads: Does mode of locomotion matter?

This investigation examined whether the mode of locomotion matters in how 8-, 10-, 12-, and 14-year-old children ( = 91) judge dynamic affordances in a complex perception-action task with significant safety risks. The primarily European American children in the sample came from the area of Iowa City, Iowa and were balanced for gender. The same children crossed a single lane of continuous traffic on foot and on bike (order counterbalanced) in identical immersive virtual environments.

A comparison of daytime and nighttime pedestrian road-crossing behavior using an immersive virtual environment.

Objective: Reduced visibility for both drivers and pedestrians is a key factor underlying the higher risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions in dark conditions. This study investigated the extent to which pedestrians adjust for the higher risk of road crossing at night by comparing daytime and nighttime pedestrian road crossing using an immersive virtual environment.

Method: Participants physically crossed a single lane of continuous traffic in an immersive pedestrian simulator.

How Do Child ADHD Symptoms and Oppositionality Impact Parent-Child Interactions When Crossing Virtual Roads?

Objective: This study examined how parents and children interact when crossing virtual roads together. We examined (1) whether children's inattention/hyperactivity and oppositionality and children's failure to jointly perform the task interfered with parents' efforts to scaffold children's road-crossing skill and (2) whether experience with the joint road-crossing task impacted children's subsequent performance in a solo road-crossing task.

Methods: Fifty-five 8- to 10-year-old children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and their parents first jointly crossed a lane of traffic in an immersive pedestrian simulator.

How do pedestrians respond to adaptive headlamp systems in vehicles? A road-crossing study in an immersive virtual environment.

Three-fourths of pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. occur in the dark (National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2020).

Let's Cross the Next One: Parental Scaffolding of Prospective Control Over Movement.

This investigation examined parental scaffolding of children's prospective control over decisions and actions during a joint perception-action task. Parents and their 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-year-old children (N = 128) repeatedly crossed a virtual roadway together. Guidance and control shifted from the parent to the child with increases in child age.

Family Communication Patterns and Teen Driving Intervention Effectiveness.

Teen drivers are at increased crash risk, largely due to lack of experience. Parents play a key role in influencing teen behaviors and attitudes around driving safety. Parent-involved interventions may improve teen driving safety but tend to be resource intensive and have limited scalability.

Do mother-child conversations about safety differ in middle- and low-income families?

Background: Children from low-income families experience a disproportionate number of unintentional injuries compared to their middle-income peers. Parents are well positioned to teach children about avoiding injury, yet little is known about parent-child safety conversations in low-income families. This study examined to what extent mother-child safety conversations differ between low- and middle-income families.

How Does Crossing Roads with Friends Impact Risk Taking in Young Adolescents and Adults?

Objective: The goal of this investigation was to examine how crossing roads with a friend versus alone affects gap decisions and movement timing in young adolescents and adults.

Methods: Ninety-six 12-year-olds and adults physically crossed a single lane of continuous traffic in an immersive pedestrian simulator. Participants completed 30 crossings either with a friend or alone.

Joint Action in a Virtual Environment: Crossing Roads with Risky vs. Safe Human and Agent Partners.

This paper examines how people jointly coordinate their decisions and actions with risky vs. safe human and agent road-crossing partners (Fig. 1 ).

Changes in perception-action tuning over long time scales: How children and adults perceive and act on dynamic affordances when crossing roads.

This investigation examined developmental change in how children perceive and act on dynamic affordances when crossing roads on foot. Six- to 14-year-olds and adults crossed roads with continuous cross-traffic in a large-screen, immersive pedestrian simulator. We observed change both in children's gap choices and in their ability to precisely synchronize their movement with the opening of a gap.

The role of Body Mass Index in child pedestrian injury risk.

The goal of the current investigation was to examine obesity as a potential risk factor for childhood pedestrian injury. A racially diverse sample of 7- and 8-year-old children completed a road-crossing task in a semi-immersive virtual environment and two pedestrian route selection tasks. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that children with a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) waited less before crossing, had a smaller temporal buffer between themselves and oncoming traffic while crossing, and had more collisions with traffic.

Parent-Child Injury Prevention Conversations Following a Trip to the Emergency Department.

Objectives: The goal of the study was to examine how parents use conversation to promote the internalization of safety values after their child has been seriously injured.

Methods: Parent interviews detailing postinjury conversations were coded for strategies mentioned to prevent injuries in the future and information about circumstances surrounding the injury.

Results: Logistic regression analyses revealed that parents were more likely to discuss why an activity was dangerous with older than younger children, and were more likely to urge daughters than sons to be more careful in the future.

Mother-child conversations about safety: implications for socializing safety values in children.

Objective: This study examined how mothers socialize their children about safety through conversations about potentially unsafe activities.

Methods: Mothers and their 8- and 10-year-old children discussed and rated the safety of 12 photographs depicting another same-gender child engaged in potentially dangerous activities.

Results: Conversations usually unfolded with children giving the first rating or rationale, followed by additional discussion between the mother and child.

Child Pedestrian Injury: A Review of Behavioral Risks and Preventive Strategies.

Pedestrian injury is among the leading causes of pediatric death in the United States and much of the world. This paper is divided into two sections. First, we review the literature on behavioral risk factors for child injury.

Distraction and pedestrian safety: how talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music impact crossing the street.

As use of handheld multimedia devices has exploded globally, safety experts have begun to consider the impact of distraction while talking, text-messaging, or listening to music on traffic safety. This study was designed to test how talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music may influence pedestrian safety. 138 college students crossed an interactive, semi-immersive virtual pedestrian street.