Effects of Initial Starting Distance and Gap Characteristics on Children’s and Young Adults’ Velocity Regulation When Intercepting Moving Gaps

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated how children and young adults regulate their velocity when crossing roads under varying traffic conditions. BACKGROUND: To cross roads safely, pedestrians must adapt their movements to the moving vehicles around them while tightly coupling their movement to visual information. METHOD: Using an Oculus Rift, 16 children and 16 young adults walked on a treadmill and intercepted gaps between two simulated moving vehicles in an immersive virtual environment. We varied the participants’ initial distance from the curb to the interception point, as well as gap characteristics, including gap size and vehicle size. RESULTS: Varying the initial distance led to systematic adjustments in participants’ approach velocities. The inter-vehicle gap and the vehicle size affected the crossing position induced by the initial distance. However, participants did not systematically scale their positions according to the initial distance in narrow gap. Notably, children did not finely tune their movements when they approached wide gap from a closer distance or when they approached the large vehicle from closer distance. CONCLUSION: Children were less precise in coupling their movements to the moving vehicle in complex traffic environments. In particular, large moving vehicles approaching at closer distances can pose risks when children cross roads. APPLICATION: These findings suggest the need for an intervention program to improve children’s skill in perceiving larger vehicles and timing their movements when crossing roads. We suggest using an interactive virtual reality system to practice this skill.