Crossing the road is more dangerous for African Americans: New study says drivers are less likely to stop for black pedestrians

A new study that tested the willingness of drivers to stop for people depending on their race has shown up some disconcerting conclusions.

Portland State University-based Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) had six men - three black and three white - of similar age and build and dressed in identical 'neutral' outfits cross the same street in Portland at separate intervals.



The street had a crosswalk that was not governed by traffic lights, leaving the onus to stop with the driver, according to The Huffington Post.



Trained observers watched the study out of sight from the traffic and recorded how the drivers reacted to each pedestrian.



Look left and right: A study by the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) found drivers were less likely to stop for black pedestrians than they were white ones, based on the 168 cars that were surveyed

Each man crossed 15 times each, allowing for 168 drivers to unwittingly be involved in the report.



The study found that drivers were less likely to stop for the black pedestrians than they were the white ones.



The observers noted that black pedestrians were passed by twice as many cars as the white pedestrians, and waited 32 percent longer to cross.



Dr. Kimberly Kahn, the lead researcher, said that while the study is small, it has sparked interest in this area of transportation.



'We wanted to test this hypothesis to see if pedestrian's race would influence driver's yielding decisions at crosswalks,' she told The Huffington Post.



'For this first initial study, we wanted to see if the effect was even there, and even with the relatively small sample size, we saw a significant variation between races.'



Kahn added that she had expected the results.



However the data has been 'really striking' to transportation experts, considering pedestrians account for 13 percent of all motor vehicle traffic-related deaths.



The study had six men - three black and three white - walk over a crosswalk that was not governed by streets, similar to this one, in Portland. Each subject crossed 15 times

The OTREC study also found that 'black pedestrians were passed by twice as many cars and waited nearly a third longer to cross than white pedestrians'.



Similar-themed studies have show different behaviors based on the age of the pedestrian and the socioeconomic status of the driver.



The ORTEC study stands alone based on its race findings.



Dr Kahn said this type of behavior is important, especially on a subconscious level.



'These implicit racial attitudes and biases are more likely to influence our behavior when we have to make split-second decisions, when we're distracted and when we have a lot going on - like when we're driving,' Kahn said.

