Skip to main content
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1985 Summer;18(2):103–110. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1985.18-103

Increasing driver yielding and pedestrian signaling with prompting, feedback, and enforcement

Ron Van Houten 1,2,3, Louis Malenfant 1,2,3, Ahmos Rolider 1,2,3
PMCID: PMC1307998  PMID: 16795686

Abstract

The effects of an intervention package on drivers' yielding to pedestrians and on pedestrians' signaling their intention to cross the street were assessed using a multiple baseline design. The intervention, which consisted of publicly posted feedback on the percentage of motorists yielding to pedestrians, small signs prompting pedestrians to engage in appropriate crossing behavior, and an enforcement program involving the use of warning tickets and feedback fliers, was sequentially introduced on two streets. The intervention more than doubled the percentage of motorists yielding to pedestrians and increased the percentage of pedestrians signaling their intention to cross the street to over 13% from a baseline level of less than 1%. Near misses involving pedestrians decreased by more than 50% on the narrower of the two streets.

Keywords: feedback, prompts, pedestrian safety, police, public posting

Full text

PDF
106

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Geller E. S., Paterson L., Talbott E. A behavioral analysis of incentive prompts for motivating seat belt use. J Appl Behav Anal. 1982 Fall;15(3):403–413. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1982.15-403. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Geller E. S. Rewarding safety belt usage at an industrial setting: Tests of treatment generality and response maintenance. J Appl Behav Anal. 1983 Summer;16(2):189–202. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1983.16-189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Houten R. V., Nau P. A. A comparison of the effects of posted feedback and increased police surveillance on highway speeding. J Appl Behav Anal. 1981 Fall;14(3):261–271. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1981.14-261. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Houten R. V., Nau P. A. Feedback interventions and driving speed: A parametric and comparative analysis. J Appl Behav Anal. 1983 Fall;16(3):253–281. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1983.16-253. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Houten R. V., Nau P., Marini Z. An analysis of public posting in reducing speeding behavior on an urban highway. J Appl Behav Anal. 1980 Fall;13(3):383–395. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1980.13-383. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Stokes T. F., Baer D. M. An implicit technology of generalization. J Appl Behav Anal. 1977 Summer;10(2):349–367. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1977.10-349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Yeaton W. H., Bailey J. S. Teaching pedestrian safety skills to young children: an analysis and one-year followup. J Appl Behav Anal. 1978 Fall;11(3):315–329. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1978.11-315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES