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Looked-but-failed-to-see-errors in traffic.
Mai-Britt Herslund1, Niels O Jørgensen
1Centre for Traffic and Transport, Technical University of Denmark, Building 115, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark. mh@ctt.dtu.dk
Accident; Analysis and Prevention
|September 16, 2003
Summary
Drivers often fail to see cyclists at intersections, even when looking, a phenomenon called "looked-but-failed-to-see." This occurs more with experienced drivers and is influenced by the presence of other vehicles, impacting traffic safety.
Area of Science:
- Traffic Safety
- Human Factors in Driving
- Road User Perception
Background:
- Traffic accidents at priority intersections frequently involve drivers failing to yield to cyclists.
- The
- looked-but-failed-to-see
- phenomenon describes drivers not perceiving visible road users despite looking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the occurrence and contributing factors of
- looked-but-failed-to-see
- incidents involving drivers and cyclists.
- To explore how driver experience and the presence of other vehicles affect gap acceptance for cyclists.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Analysis of 10 self-reported near-accident incidents.
- Study 2: Gap acceptance experiments involving drivers and simulated cyclists, with and without a concurrent vehicle.
Main Results:
- Self-reported near accidents confirm the occurrence of
- looked-but-failed-to-see
- events, particularly among experienced drivers.
- Car drivers' acceptance of gaps to cyclists is significantly reduced when another car is present.
Conclusions:
- Driver perception failures contribute to cyclist-vehicle collisions at intersections.
- Countermeasures should address driver attention, perception limitations, and the influence of contextual factors like other vehicles.