Influence of Geometric and Traffic Characteristics on Priority Violations at Uncontrolled Intersections

Abstract

Most of the intersections in developing nations are uncontrolled. The traffic movements at such intersections are very complex because of aggressive driving behaviour, lane indiscipline, and lack of priority rules. Priority violations are frequent at uncontrolled intersections due to the lack of traffic control, making the gap acceptance model less effective. The increase in priority violations may increase the capacity, delay and vehicular conflicts, thereby affecting the safety at intersections. Therefore, it is necessary to study the rate of occurrence of priority violations and the influence of road geometrics and traffic conditions on priority violations at uncontrolled intersections. This paper describes the influence of traffic and geometric characteristics on the overall priority violations, including priority reversals and limited priority. Moreover, this study provides separate models for predicting the occurrence rate of priority reversals and limited priority, which will be helpful for design engineers. In addition, this study also shows that an increase in priority violations increases capacity. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.