Gender Aspects of Street Crossing Behaviour among Undergraduates: An Observational Study

Abstract

This study examined the behaviour of pedestrians before and during street crossing in a Nigerian University. In total, 1438 pedestrians were observed in a natural setting at six zebra (820, 57%) and four non-zebra crossing locations (618, 43%) across the campus; 825 were male (57.3%) and 613 female (42.6%). A chi-square test revealed gender similarities and differences in street crossing behaviour of students. The majority of males (67.70%) and females (76.26%) crossed vertically at zebra crossings and the same proportion of males (69.01%) and females (71.38%) crossed diagonally at non-zebra locations. Most of the pedestrians looked to the right and left at the zebra and non-zebra sites before and during crossing. Significant gender differences in distractive activities were observed among users of zebra and non-zebra crossings. The study concluded that, contrary to general belief that male pedestrians take unnecessary risk at crossing sites, a larger majority of sampled males than females were compliant with traffic rules.