Socially responsible behaviour of a pedestrian − Obligation or necessity?

Abstract

As vulnerable road users, pedestrians are the object of research in various areas of road safety. One of the ways to reduce the level of risky behaviour of pedestrians is to increase their social responsibility by applying the “traditional” 3 E: engineering, education, and enforcement. Social responsibility involves a focus on responsibility for both actions related to personal safety and actions that benefit society. This paper deals with the results of a survey of pedestrians regarding their risky behaviour while walking, namely, violation of crossing rules and distraction by using a smartphone or listening to music through headphones. It was found that risky behaviour depends on the age of pedestrians, and listening to music through headphones also depends on the person’s gender. It was established that respondents’ assessment of the safety of transport modes does not correlate with data on mortality in road traffic accidents using different types of transport. It is proposed that social responsibility of pedestrians can be increased by analyzing the causes and events that lead to traffic accidents during the study of safety disciplines in higher education institutions.