Exploring Driver behaviour under conditions of darkness: shedding light on the night time traffic death toll

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Road traffic crashes are a global public health concern and the leading cause of deaths andinjuries. While it is possible to be involved in a road crash at any given time within the trafficenvironment, previous research studies have shown that the burden of road-traffic injuries isdisproportionately borne by hours of the day during which the lowest proportion of traffic istypically present, i.e. night time. In South Africa, 58% of traffic deaths occur during the hoursof darkness in South Africa, and the risk of being in a fatal crash is 4-5 times higher at nighttime than daytime. The purpose of this study was to explore driver performance andbehaviour under night time conditions in order gain insight into traffic crash patterns anddriving behaviour at night time. This was accomplished by analysing crash and fatality dataover a period of 10 years to examine the characteristics of night time crashes, analysingdriver videos to assess driver performance at night time (in terms of speed choice,intersection behaviour and compliance with traffic rules) and examining the beliefs andperceptions of drivers that underpin and govern their behaviour at night by means of a survey.The results from the crash and fatality datasets indicate that traffic fatalities are higher atnight time, head/rear end crashes and crashes with fixed/other objects are predominant atnight, pedestrians constitute the largest proportion of fatalities and traffic fatalities are higherat night for young male drivers. The results from the driving videos show that at night,drivers exceed the speed limit or adopt a speed that closely approximates the speed limit, useenhancements in street lighting to increase speed and adopt similar scanning patterns at nighttime as during the daytime. The results from the surveys indicate that drivers generally ratetheir driving ability at night more positively, are more likely to adopt higher speeds andcontravene traffic rules at night, are likely to experience highway hypnosis and struggle withdetecting pedestrians and estimating the speed of moving vehicles. The findings from thisstudy can aid in accounting for the high number of traffic fatalities at night, assist inconstructing relevant and meaningful interventions to reduce the number of traffic deaths atnight and help engineers and designers to develop roadway facilities that accommodate drivers' needs and limitations at night.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University