Citation

Liang X, Meng X, Zheng L. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2021; ePub: ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2021.106167

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Shared spaces are gaining popularity worldwide alongside the promotion of walking and cycling. Pedestrians, conventional bicycles, and electric bicycles (e-bikes) currently coexist in many shared spaces, with the prevalence of e-bikes increasing gradually in recent years. Shared spaces can provide a lower-stress experience for users because they are separated from motorized traffic, but frequent interactions among users raise safety concerns. This study sought to investigate conflict behaviours and characteristics among pedestrians, conventional bicycles, and e-bikes in shared spaces. Video data covering 12 h from three locations in Shenzhen city was analyzed. A total of 1748 pedestrians, 1748 conventional bicycles, and 930 e-bikes were observed, while 337 traffic conflicts were identified using the Dutch Objective Conflict Technique for Operation and Research (DOCTOR) method. Shared-space crash data recorded between April of 2013 and September of 2019 was used to validate and complement the conflict analysis. Friedman test was used to compare the conflict behaviours and characteristics among different groups. The analysis showed a positive relationship between the traffic volume and the number of conflicts but an inverse relationship between the traffic ratios and conflict ratios. Evasive actions, including swerving, decelerating, accelerating, and their combinations, were analyzed for various conflict types and severities, with swerving found to be the most common, especially in slight conflicts. Compared with slight conflicts, conventional bicycles and e-bikes exhibited low-speed characteristics in serious conflicts. These results indicated that high traffic volume and traffic complexity are the main factors that affect conflicts. It was proposed that the conflict coefficient be used to measure shared-space safety. In addition, the video observation study and crash data analysis suggested that conflicts and crashes between e-bikes and pedestrians are high-occurrence events, and that pedestrians are often exposed to higher injury risks.

Language: en

Keywords

Pedestrian; Shared space; Conventional bicycle; e-bike; Observation study; Traffic conflict