This two-part study was among the first to show racial bias in pedestrian’s experience crossing streets, and explored social identity-related factors that influence drivers’ behaviors in interactions with pedestrians at crosswalks. If drivers yield differently to Black and white pedestrians at crosswalks, this may lead to disparate crossing experiences and disproportionate safety outcomes. The research team conducted a field experiment where Black and white pedestrians wore identical clothing and repeatedly crossed the same intersection in a systematic manner, with coders in the field marking drivers’ behaviors. The initial study (88 pedestrian trials, 173 driver-subjects) revealed discriminatory treatment by drivers in that Black male pedestrians were passed by twice as many cars and waited 32% longer than white male pedestrians. The second phase goes farther by examining how additional factors, notably gender, affect drivers’ stopping behaviors at crosswalks.

Novel findings include:

• When pedestrians were categorized by gender, female pedestrians were more likely to have the first car stop for them than male pedestrians.
• When pedestrians were categorized by race, white pedestrians more likely to have the first car stop for them than black pedestrians.
• Black men were likely to have the most cars pass them before one stopped.
• Drivers were more likely to stop with their vehicle behind the stop bar when the pedestrian was white, but after the bar when the pedestrian was Black; demonstrating an intrusion into the crossing space for black pedestrians and a possible safety risk.
• At unmarked crosswalks, drivers rarely stopped for any of the pedestrians.
• With a Black pedestrian, cars were more likely to stop after the stop bar, infringing on the pedestrian's crossing space. With white pedestrians, the cars were leaving more of a buffer for the pedestrian to safely cross.

The study has now been replicated in other places and used in city plans to set new policy and priorities. As part of a new public education campaign around Vision Zero, the Seattle Department of Transportation is expanding upon this research by comparing the percentage of people driving who stop for white pedestrians to the percentages of those who stop for pedestrians who are BIPOC. The Seattle DOT is working with community partners, including the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association and CHAMPS Resource Center, to identify particularly unsafe intersections and collect these data.

Learn more about Racial Bias in Drivers' Yielding Behavior at Crosswalks: Understanding the Effect, led by Kimberly Kahn of Portland State University.