Who Owns the Road? Exploring Driver and Pedestrian Behaviour at Zebra/Pedestrian Crossings in Gaborone, Botswana.

Abstract

The paper explored driver and pedestrian behaviours at pedestrian crossings in Gaborone, Botswana. Specifically, the study observed distractive behaviours of drivers and pedestrians, pedestrian checking behaviour, and driver intimidation. A total of 500 drivers (391, 78.2% males and 109, 21.8% females) were observed as they interacted with pedestrians at pedestrian crossings at different locations and times. The results show that the majority of the drivers (80.4%) did not yield for pedestrians; thus most of the time, pedestrians were forced to stop for the drivers to pass. Chi square results indicate that the majority of the pedestrians (78.6%) were not distracted when crossing the road and that they were more likely to check both sides of the road before crossing. Pedestrian checking behaviour was also significantly influenced by driver intimidation behaviours. Furthermore, Chi square results show that pedestrians’ tendency to cross at designated pedestrian crossings differed significantly when they engaged in distractive behaviours.