DELAYS IN TRAFFIC AND MOTORISTS YIELDING TO PEDESTRIANS

A field experiment was carried out in which a pedestrian attempted to cross a busy residential street. Associations of the amount of time a motorist was delayed at a four-way stop and the volume of traffic with the decision whether to stop were assessed. For 190 motorists both delay and volume were significantly related to stopping. The longer the delay at the four-way stop and the greater the volume of traffic, the less likely the pedestrian was to elicit a stop. Regression analysis showed that delay was a better predictor of motorists' stopping. These findings are consistent with Pilliavin's costs/benefits theory of helping behavior.