Gentlemen on the Road: Understanding How Pedestrians Interpret Yielding Behavior of Autonomous Vehicles using Machine Learning
This research addresses pedestrian safety and trust in AVs, but it is incremental as it builds on existing work by analyzing specific vehicle factors.
The study investigated how pedestrian crossing behavior is influenced by autonomous vehicle (AV) yielding behavior and size, finding that head orientation changes were most frequent when a large AV did not yield, and participants reported these factors affected their crossing decisions and perceived safety.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can prevent collisions by understanding pedestrian intention. We conducted a virtual reality experiment with 39 participants and measured crossing times (seconds) and head orientation (yaw degrees). We manipulated AV yielding behavior (no-yield, slow-yield, and fast-yield) and the AV size (small, medium, and large). Using machine learning approach, we classified head orientation change of pedestrians by time into 6 clusters of patterns. Results indicate that pedestrian head orientation change was influenced by AV yielding behavior as well as the size of the AV. Participants fixated on the front most of the time even when the car approached near. Participants changed head orientation most frequently when a large size AV did not yield (no-yield). In post-experiment interviews, participants reported that yielding behavior and size affected their decision to cross and perceived safety. For autonomous vehicles to be perceived more safe and trustful, vehicle-specific factors such as size and yielding behavior should be considered in the designing process.