Improving the effectiveness of nighttime temporary traffic control warning devices, volume 2 : evaluation of nighttime mobile warning lights.

Details

• Creators:
  Steele, Douglas A. ; Zabecki, Jessica Marcon ; Zimmerman, Laura
• Corporate Creators:
  Applied Research Associates, Inc.
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration ; Illinois. Dept. of Transportation. Bureau of Materials and Physical Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Traffic control devices
  • Temporary structures
  • Warning devices
  • Night
  • Work zone traffic control
  • Traffic channelization
  • Drums (Containers)
  • Barricades
  • Highway safety
  • Lighting
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-ICT-13-032 ; ICT-13-032 ; UILU-ENG-2013-2033
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Illinois
• Corporate Publisher:
  Illinois Center for Transportation
• Abstract:
  Vehicle-mounted warning lights for nighttime mobile highway operations provide critical protection to workers and the driving ; public. Alerting the traveling public of the approaching work activity and providing guidance is vital to maintaining safety and ; mobility. Previous research conducted for IDOT on mobile lane closures (Steele and Vavrik 2009) identified driver confusion ; as a concern to the safety of nighttime highway operations. Users are subject to warning lights from multiple agencies with ; varying characteristics and configurations, but we know little about driver comprehension of these signals and their influence ; on driver behavior. ; Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) studied the effectiveness of warning lights on nighttime highway operations, ; including mobile lane closures, incident responses, and police activities, by reviewing pertinent literature, performing ; observational and experimental field studies, and conducting driver surveys and focus groups of driver perceptions and ; behavior in response to nighttime mobile operations. We used a cognitive model of driver mental processes to analyze this ; information and better understand the interaction between warning lights and driver perception and behavior, and to identify ; and evaluate potential improvements to current practice. ; The research showed that drivers view current vehicle-mounted warning lights as highly visible, attention-getting, and ; effective at conveying the message caution/alert. However, intense lights can cause discomfort glare and multiple light sets ; on individual vehicles, or multiple vehicles at a location, can be distracting, annoying, or anxiety-inducing. Complex visual ; scenes can confuse drivers and take longer to process cognitively, leading to slower reaction times. Often, information ; provided by flashing arrows, signs, and changeable message signs can be interfered with by other warning lights on the same ; vehicle. ; Suggestions for improvement from the focus groups centered primarily on reducing the number of flashing lights, or ; synchronizing their flashing, on individual vehicles, reducing the intensity of specific lights, sequential flashing of arrows ; between multiple trucks in a convoy, and incorporating directional motion in light bars. Researchers were not able to test ; some of the ideas due to limitations of current device technology; however, field experiments on several suggested concepts ; showed the potential to improve driver perception, comprehension, and behavior by modifying the number, intensity, and ; synchronization of lights on individual vehicles, as well as between vehicles.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  R27-108
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28798/dot_28798_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 832.43 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5cbeb5c2ae45037c359341fb38ac603db5e8071107d391aa2cb046b73844660d