Improving the Effectiveness of Nighttime Temporary Traffic Control Warning Devices, Volume 2: Evaluation of Nighttime Mobile Warning Lights (original) (raw)
Related papers
Civil Engineering Studies, Illinois Center for Transportation Series, 2013
Currently, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is one of the few state transportation agencies that require warning lights on nighttime work zone channelization devices, such as drums and barricades. The intent of the steady-burn, amber warning lights is to increase visibility of the channelization devices, providing guidance to motorists and preventing intrusions into the closed lane. However, their additional benefit beyond that provided by the high-reflectivity materials used on the channelization devices themselves has not been evaluated, including taking into consideration their initial, maintenance, and replacement costs; and the environmental and economic issues of routine battery replacement. Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) studied the effectiveness of warning lights on nighttime channelization devices by reviewing pertinent literature, experimental studies of nighttime work zones with and without lights on drums, driver surveys, and focus groups of driv...
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2010
Emergency vehicles are subjected to substantial risks when traveling through urban signalized intersections, particularly when the cross street traffic is provided with a green signal indication. Much of this risk is due to a lack of awareness of the approaching emergency vehicles on the part of the cross street traffic. To mitigate this problem, a dynamically activated emergency vehicle alert system was developed to provide an additional visual cue to motorists of an impending emergency vehicle's approach. The alert system consists of an LED case sign, mounted near the curb line adjacent to a traffic signal, which displays an emergency vehicle symbol when activated by a transmitter installed in the emergency vehicle as it approaches an intersection. A before-and-after evaluation of these warning signs was conducted at five test intersections in two suburban communities near Detroit, Michigan. The results showed that the alert system significantly improved driver awareness and b...
Psychological Responses of Motorcar Drivers to Flashing Amber Lights at Signalised T-Intersections
Journal of south asian logistics and transport, 2021
The accurate and timely decision making of drivers is vital to ensuring public safety and reaching the destination in time. This paper presents a detailed comparison of the expectation of regulatory bodies in implementing flashing amber lights and explores the actual driver responses to flashing amber lights at a signalised Tintersection by taking speed variation as a proxy for their decision making. A survey was conducted at a signalised T-intersection during the operation of flashing amber lights to measure the speed variation. Time-distance and speed gun techniques were used to collect speed data of motor cars. Results reflect those drivers show only a marginal response to flashing amber lights. Therefore, the intention of regulatory bodies that vehicles maintaining lower speed at a T-intersection with flashing amber lights was not satisfactorily fulfilled. The marginal response of drivers to flashing amber lights can be a leading cause of accidents occurring in signalised T-intersections at odd (night) hours.
Texas Dot Vehicle Fleet Warning Light Policy Research
Transportation Research Circular, 2000
his paper presents an overview and preliminary results of current research being conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to improve the latter's vehicle fleet warning light policy and procedures. Although the need for vehicle warning lights is well understood and mandated by law, the large number of design options available (types of lights, lens colors, mounting positions, and combinations thereof) to transportation agencies such as TxDOT makes establishment and maintenance of a consistent policy regarding vehicle warning lights difficult. Also, there is considerable and growing pressure to incorporate into maintenance and service vehicles lighting technologies that are visually similar to those implemented on police and other emergency vehicles (e.g., light bars or blue flashers). Research conducted by TTI and TxDOT and presented in this paper includes the results of a national survey of vehicle warning light policies by state DOTs, a review of human factors and driver behavior research that has influenced warning light policies over the years, and studies of motorist comprehension and driving responses to different warning light configurations. Specifically, studies are being conducted in several cities statewide to determine the types of vehicles (police, fire, maintenance, tow services, and so forth) and the relative degree of concern or caution drivers commonly associate with different vehicle warning light color configurations. Field studies are also being performed to determine the differences in driver behavior (measured in terms of speed, lane choice and lane changing, and brake application) as drivers approach a vehicle parked on the shoulder with one of three different vehicle warning light configurations displayed (red-blue-yellow configuration, blue-yellow configuration, or all-yellow configuration). These objective data on motorists' perceptions and responses will help TxDOT policymakers to ensure that the vehicle warning light systems utilized fulfill a real need, that they are credible to the public, and that they elicit correct and consistent reactions by drivers.
Night-Vision Display Unlit during Uneventful Periods May Improve Traffic Safety
2006 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, 2006
It is always uncertain if a new assistance system will enhance traffic safety or not: empirical studies indicate that driving style may deteriorate when the driver experiences the increased safety margin created by an advanced driver assistance system. To minimize this negative effect on driving style, we redesigned a night vision system so that it appeared differently to the driver: we let the system's head-up display be turned off during operation, to be lit up only when the system detected an obstacle (e.g., a pedestrian or animal) on the road ahead. This presentation style was compared in a simulator study to the traditional solution of constantly lit-up display. The results indicate that drivers reacted more reliably (showed less variance in reaction times) using the new system, which implies that the lighting up of the IR-display constituted an effective warning. Also, drivers to a greater extent drove at normal (slower) speeds when using the redesigned system. More generally, systems offering discontinuous support (i.e. only in critical situations) may have less of a negative effect on driving style, as their presence is not felt as vividly by the driver.
Rectangular Rapid-Flash Beacons (RRFBs) are safety measures that have become popular in recent years in the USA. Such equipment has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing vehicle speed and conflicts among road users, and increasing drivers' yielding to pedestrians. However, RRFB effects on pedestrian behaviors are less well documented, and perhaps could produce contraindicated effects in crossing behavior. Specifically, RRFBs may give pedestrians a feeling of protection and induce them to more risk-taking when crossing the road. The current study was designed to investigate drivers and pedestrians' reactions to a RRFB system installed at a university campus located in Virginia, USA. We deployed (a) field observation, using a multiple pretest/posttest non-equivalent control group quasi-experiment design and (b) interviews of students throughout the project's multiple time periods. In total, 2454 pedestrians and 1312 drivers were observed and 265 students were interviewed. RRFB installations did not distinguish driver yielding likelihood between sites with or without RRFBs. However, driver yielding overall increased linearly over the five rounds of the study. Whether this was the result of the general presence of RRFBs on campus from the third round to the end of the fifth round is unknown. There is evidence from person interviews that students perceived increased safety for pedestrians over time. Being a RRFB chosen site or actual activation of the RRFBs did not have a significant relationship with pedestrian looking behavior either. The potential consequences of these results as well as the context of RRFB use on a university campus and generally low-speed roads are discussed.
Strategies to Address Nighttime Crashes at Rural, Unsignalized Intersections
2008
Citizens request the installation of roadway lighting in their communities based on several motivations, including the experience or perception that lighting improves traffic safety and reduces crime, while also providing a tangible benefit of taxpayer dollars at work. Roadway authority staff fully appreciate these citizen concerns; however, roadway lighting is expensive to install, supply energy to, and maintain in perpetuity. The installation of roadway lighting is only one of a number of strategies agencies have to address nighttime crash concerns. This research assists local agencies in deciding when, where, and how much rural intersection lighting to provide.