Perception based investigation exploring recurrence of violations by motorist and non-motorist at rail road grade crossings.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-22613-y
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Summary
This study investigates the factors influencing the recurrence of violations (ROV) by motorists and non-motorists at railroad grade crossings (RRGCs) in India. RRGC crashes are frequently fatal, with mortality rates reaching nearly 50% for motorists and 70% for pedestrians. While gated crossings improve safety, undisciplined behavior and deliberate gate violations remain primary causes of accidents. The research addresses a gap in existing literature, which has largely overlooked the specific behavioral patterns of non-motorists and the recurring nature of violations among all road users. The study aims to identify socio-economic, travel-related, and behavioral factors that distinguish regular violators, occasional violators, and non-violators to inform targeted safety interventions. Data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey conducted at 21 distinct RRGCs across nine Indian states. The final dataset comprised 7,208 valid responses, including 5,243 from motorists and 1,965 from non-motorists (pedestrians and bicyclists). The survey captured socio-demographic details, trip characteristics, and specific behavioral metrics, such as engagement in secondary activities and checking for incoming trains. The researchers employed descriptive statistical analysis and Spearman’s correlation to assess variable associations. To model the ordinal nature of violation frequency (regular, occasional, or none), separate ordered probit models were developed for motorists and non-motorists. Descriptive analysis revealed that non-motorists account for the highest percentage of regular violations. A significant proportion of pedestrians and bicyclists engage in high-risk behaviors, such as attempting to beat incoming trains. The modeling results identified distinct significant factors for each group. For motorists, age, marital status, time of day, and checking for incoming trains were statistically insignificant predictors of ROV. For non-motorists, driving experience, marital status, time of day, and unintentional trespassing were insignificant. However, for both groups, socio-economic attributes, travel-related factors, and specific behaviors significantly influenced violation recurrence. Most notably, engagement in secondary activities emerged as the most significant predictor of violations across all factors. The findings underscore that risky behavior at RRGCs is driven by specific, identifiable factors rather than random chance. The identification of secondary activities as the primary driver of violations suggests that interventions targeting distraction and attention management could be highly effective. By distinguishing the significant factors for motorists versus non-motorists, the study provides planners and policymakers with evidence-based insights to design tailored mitigation strategies. These strategies can help deter violators and enhance safety for vulnerable road users at RRGCs, addressing the critical need to reduce the high fatality rates associated with these intersections.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | PubMed Central | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-10 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-25 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-25 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-10 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence