Improving the conspicuity of trailblazing signs for incident management.

Details

• Creators:
  Barker, J. A. ; Neale, V. L. ; Dingus, T. A.
• Corporate Creators:
  Virginia. Dept. of Transportation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Incident management
  • Accident prevention
  • Color
  • Graphics
  • Highway communication
  • Highway construction
  • Human factors engineering
  • Motor vehicle accidents
  • Traffic control devices
  • Traffic safety
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  VTRC 98-CR36
• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  Virginia
• Edition:
  Final; 10/1/96-3/31/98
• Corporate Publisher:
  Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC)
• Abstract:
  This report represents efforts to design and evaluate a new sign design for emergency route trailblazing in a two-part series. ; Study was an off-road field experiment conducted to determine the best sign color combination, letter stroke width, and letter size for ; the emergency sign. Based upon the results of that first study, three color combinations were chosen for testing (black on coral, black ; on light blue, and yellow on purple) against a baseline color combination of black on orange. The test signs to be further tested ; featured D series, 125-mm (5 in) height letters. ; Study 2 was conducted using an instrumented vehicle and survey questionnaire through a construction zone-related detour. The ; independent variables of interest were sign color combination, age, and visibility condition. The findings of Study 2 indicated that use ; of a color combination other than the traditional orange background with a black legend will improve driver performance and safety ; when used for trailblazing during critical incidents. ; Based on the conclusions and other anecdotal evidence, the following recommendations were made: ; 1. Do not use a black on orange sign for trailblazing around a critical incident if an existing detour/construction zone is in place. ; 2. Do not use a black on coral sign for trailblazing around a critical incident. ; 3. A black on light blue sign is recommended due to its generally favorable subjective ratings and for minimization of the number of ; turn errors made by drivers in an overlapping detour. ; 4. Despite recommendation 3, it is important to note that the black on light blue sign fades to take on the appearance of a regulatory ; sign when headlights reflect onto it. ; 5. If the black on light blue sign is deemed inappropriate due to its appearance as a regulatory sign at night, consider using the yellow ; on purple color combination. In this study, the yellow on purple sign color combination resulted in fewer turn errors than black ; on orange and it was generally rated favorably by drivers, especially younger drivers.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/15570/dot_15570_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.88 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:ad658c1a1294128055847281d4d8d0ee1317124feee996c94de3d5d2741cf79c