The flashing right turn signal with pedestrian indication : human factors studies to understand the potential of a new signal to increase awareness of and attention to crossing pedestrians.

Details

• Creators:
  Boot, Walter ; Charness, Neil ; Roque, Nelson ; Barajas, Kimberly ; Dirghalli, Jared ; Mitchum, Ainsley
• Corporate Creators:
  Florida State University. Dept. of Psychology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Flashing traffic signals
  • Right turns
  • Signalized intersections
  • Pedestrian actuated controllers
  • Pedestrian safety
  • Drivers
  • Yielding
  • Human factors
  • Behavior
  • Age groups
• Publication/ Report Number:
  BDV30-977-13
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Florida
• Corporate Publisher:
  Florida. Dept. of Transportation
• Abstract:
  The flashing pedestrian indicator (FPI) is intended to alert turning drivers to the potential presence of ; pedestrians in the roadway, facilitate scanning in the likely direction of pedestrians, and encourage caution and ; yielding behavior in response to pedestrians. Task 1.1 assessed younger (21-35 years), middle-aged (50-64 ; years), and older (65+) drivers’ ability to comprehend the intended message of this new signal. Participants were ; presented with static driving scenes, containing the FPI (as well as other signal states), and were asked to report ; the meaning of the FPI in open-ended and multiple choice formats. Task 1.2 presented a separate group of ; participants with similar scenes and participants were asked to imagine they were a right-turning driver. In this ; task, participants were asked to report the correct action (go, stop, yield to pedestrian). Pedestrian presence was ; manipulated, as well as whether the intersection featured an FPI. Results of Task 1.1 indicated that drivers quickly ; picked up on the meaning of the FPI. However, there was some confusion regarding the meaning of the FPI for ; drivers proceeding straight through the intersection rather than turning right (participants often thought that that the ; signal meant that drivers proceeding straight through the intersection should expect pedestrians as well). Task 1.2 ; indicated that, compared to a standard signal that did not feature an FPI, the FPI encouraged significantly more ; decisions to yield to pedestrians within a crosswalk both in timed and untimed responses. Participants were more ; likely to make a response to yield when the FPI was active even when no visible pedestrian was present. ; Furthermore, participants were slower in making their decision when no pedestrian was present. We interpret this ; pattern as indicating greater caution and search for pedestrians in the presence of the FPI. In general, few age ; differences were observed. Results suggested that the FPI is a promising signal with respect to comprehension, ; but additional research is needed to 1) further explore the source of, and potential solutions to, driver confusion ; uncovered in these studies, 2) evaluate driving behavior in response to the FPI, and 3) understand pedestrian ; response to the FPI. Additional laboratory and simulator studies are required before final recommendations can be ; made regarding implementation. Reported results provide insight into the design of these studies and the ; questions they should address.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29644/dot_29644_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.01 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:0cb7ec18f7f17466cb1434d1cbc217aa2efbf825b9773699050e77cdd25c435c