Racial Bias in Driver Yielding Behavior at Crosswalks

Abstract

Abstract:Racial minorities are disproportionately represented in pedestrian traffic fatalities, indicating a significant public health and safety issue. Psychological and social identity-related factors have previously been shown to influence drivers' behaviors toward pedestrians. If drivers' behavior reflects racial bias and 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. We tested this hypothesis in a controlled field experiment at an unsignalized midblock marked crosswalk in downtown Portland, Oregon. Six trained male research team confederates (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 (90 pedestrian trials, 168 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.3

Racial Bias in Drivers' Yielding Behavior at Crosswalks: Understanding the Effect

“…This research is consistent with prior studies (Coughenour et al, 2017;Goddard et al, 2015) finding similar racial discrimination against pedestrians. In the systematic field experiments, examining the effects of crosswalk signs and marking on driver's yielding behavior at the same location demonstrated that a) signs and marking significantly increase driver compliance with crossing rules or expectations, and b) that increase in compliance may not be equitably distributed.…”

“…For example, one participant noted that: While these statements were not made by every focus group participant, there did seem to be widespread agreement, either verbally through additional stories or with verbal and non-verbal group affirmation. This affirmation manifested itself clearly when the moderator shared the results of our previous crosswalk study (Goddard et al, 2015) with focus group participants later in the discussion. Participants agreed that these results matched their experiences and they were not surprised by the findings.…”

“…The moderator then shared information about previous findings about drivers' biased yielding in Portland (Goddard, Kahn, & Adkins, 2015), and asked participants to respond to this information. Finally, participants were given a chance to offer final thoughts or opinions more generally, in order to provide additional qualitative data about which issues people feel most strongly.…”

“…Consistent with this societal pattern, it is hypothesized that drivers will exhibit racial bias when making decisions about whether or not to stop for pedestrians waiting to cross the street at a crosswalk, which may reflect conscious or nonconscious biases. Our initial research on this topic revealed the predicted racial bias in drivers' yielding behavior at crosswalks: Black male pedestrians were passed by twice as many cars as, and waited 32% longer than, White male pedestrians (Goddard, Kahn and Adkins, 2015).…”

“…In our initial investigation into this topic (Goddard, Kahn and Adkins, 2015), we tested whether pedestrian race influenced drivers' stopping behavior with Black and White male pedestrians. In a controlled field experiment in which Black and White male pedestrians waited to cross the street at a marked crosswalk in Portland, Oregon, Black male pedestrians were passed by twice as many cars and experienced wait times that were 32% longer than those found for White male pedestrians.…”