The Influence of Different Factors on Right-Turn Distracted Driving Behavior at Intersections Using Naturalistic Driving Study Data

High frequency of distracted driving behavior is considered a high potential risk for traffic safety. Right-turn drivers’ distracted driving behavior can dramatically increase the crash risk considering the complex procedures required by the right-turn movements at intersections. This paper analyzed the influence of several factors including road geometry, environmental factors, and traffic conditions on the occurrence of right-turn drivers’ distracted driving activities. The data were collected through the Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS). A total of 581 events including 208 events with distracted driving and 373 events without distracted driving (baseline events) were extracted from the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2) NDS database. The logistic model and random forest (RF) were applied for regression analysis. It was found that Vehicle Lane Occupied and Traffic Control are significantly correlated to distracted driving behavior in both models. The analysis of odds ratios indicated that dedicated right-turn lane design and adding yield sign at intersections can reduce the probability of having distracted driving behavior. Traffic density and driving time may also play important roles in the occurrence of distracted driving activities. Countermeasures are recommended to reduce distracted driving in this paper. The findings of this paper can help engineers and researchers better understand the dominant factors affecting drivers’ distraction. This research can also provide theoretical support for the distraction detection function in the advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).