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041 _afre
042 _adc
100 1 0 _aAh-tchine, Émeline
_eauthor
700 1 0 _ade Vries, Erica
_eauthor
245 0 0 _aInformation or advice? A virtual reality study of message content for road crossing in front of autonomous cars
260 _c2020.
500 _a18
520 _aWith a view to road safety education and accident prevention, the study of the interaction between autonomous cars and pedestrians cannot be postponed until actual introduction in the public space. In this study, we proactively investigate road-crossing decisions in virtual reality. The objective is to determine the influence of message content displayed by autonomous cars on road crossing decisions and feeling of safety. Focus groups resulted in two different message contents: information about the speed of the car and advice about desired behaviour (pedestrian traffic light). In a virtual reality study, the two message contents were compared to a gear-only control condition and to a human-operated car. The procedure involved 24 crossing decisions in road configurations varying in the likelihood of crossing according to traffic rules. The results showed that road crossing behaviour in virtual reality complied with the likelihood of crossing according to traffic rules (pedestrian rule compliance). Furthermore, as expected, we found an interaction between the type of car and message content in underdetermined road crossing situations. Positive crossings decisions were the least frequent in front of autonomous cars in the pedestrian traffic light (advice) condition. Thus, advice as message content generates cautious pedestrian road crossing behaviour. Finally, the results show a high feeling of safety except when pedestrian traffic lights were absent (present neither as object in the road configuration nor as message content). The results and implications for road safety education are discussed.
690 _aautonomous cars
690 _acrossing decisions
690 _amessage content
690 _apedestrian
690 _aroad safety
690 _avirtual reality
786 0 _nLe travail humain | 83 | 4 | 2020-11-26 | p. 407-427 | 0041-1868
856 4 1 _uhttps://shs.cairn.info/journal-le-travail-humain-2020-4-page-407?lang=en&redirect-ssocas=7080
999 _c2080606
_d2080606