Pedestrians’ Crossing Decisions While Interacting with Automated Vehicles – Insights from a Longitudinal Study

The decisions of pedestrians when crossing in front of automated vehicles (AVs) have been studied under the usage of external human machine interfaces (eHMIs) as explicit means of communication between AVs and other road users. Long-term effects of AV and eHMI exposure on pedestrians’ crossing decisions have not yet been intensively researched. Therefore, a longitudinal study with three sessions and two eHMI designs was conducted in a controlled field environment with 21 participants. A participant’s decision to cross in front of an AV was continuously measured using a hand-held device whose button was pressed when the participant felt safe to cross. Findings show that with increasing experience, pedestrians’ perceived safety to cross at close distances to a yielding AV increases when the AV is equipped with an eHMI displaying the vehicle’s status, perception and yielding intention. We conclude that when interacting with AVs, pedestrians' perceived safety benefits from eHMIs whose impact depends on pedestrians' experience.