Influencing Factors on the Increase in the Number of Traffic Accidents Between Pedestrians and Vehicles During Twilight: A Perspective of Pedestrians

Traffic accidents occur more frequently during twilight hours, particularly collisions between pedestrians and vehicles. This study aimed to identify factors contributing to this increase by examining pedestrian behavior. To investigate changes in pedestrians’ visual behavior, an experiment was conducted in which participants, wearing an eye tracker, walked along a sidewalk while encountering vehicles at different times: during daytime, twilight, and nighttime. From the obtained experimental data, visual field images were captured at the moment participants (pedestrians) first observed each approaching vehicle. An index called the extended time to collision (ETTC) was introduced to measure the time available for pedestrians to avoid potential danger. This index was used to evaluate the critical awareness timing. The analysis revealed that the ETTC at the moment when pedestrians first saw approaching vehicles was significantly shorter during twilight than during daytime or nighttime. This was because pedestrians observed fewer approaching vehicles in the distance during twilight. This finding highlights the importance of pedestrian awareness of delayed noticing of approaching vehicles during twilight to reduce the number of accidents.