Details:

Creators:
Inman, Vaughan W. ; Davis, Gregory W. ; Sauerburger, Dona
Inman, Vaughan W. ; Davis, Gregory W. ; Sauerburger, Dona Less -
Corporate Creators:
Science Applications International Corporation
Corporate Contributors:
United States. Federal Highway Administration
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Accessibility Crosswalks Double Lane Roundabouts Field Studies Pedestrians Roundabouts Rumble Strips Visually Impaired Persons Yielding Yield Signs
Publication/ Report Number:
FHWA-HRT-05-080
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
North America
Corporate Publisher:
United States. Federal Highway Administration
NTL Classification:
NTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION;NTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS;NTL-PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLES-PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLES;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Human Factors;
Abstract:
This report describes two related studies intended to address double-lane roundabout accessibility issues for visually impaired pedestrians. The first study was conducted on a closed course to evaluate the feasibility of a pavement treatment to alert blind pedestrians when vehicles have yielded to them. The second study examined drivers' yielding behavior at a two-lane roundabout and the effectiveness of the same roadway treatment in an operational environment. In the first study, there were two experimental conditions: a control condition and a treatment condition in which rumble strip-like devices were placed on the roadway surface. Seven individuals who have severe visual impairments participated. Participants stood at a crosswalk and used hand signals to indicate when they detected vehicles stopping or departing after a stop. Compared to the control condition, the sound strips treatment increased the probability of detecting stopped vehicles, and decreased by more than a second the amount of time needed to make a detection; however, the treatment did not reduce the number of false detections. False detections could result in the pedestrian crossing when moving vehicles are approaching the crosswalk. The second study was an experiment conducted at an operating roundabout. In that environment the rumble strip-like treatment was not effective, probably because the majority of vehicles stopped in the circular roadway before crossing over the rumble strips. A Yield to Pedestrians, State Law sign that was placed in the roundabout exit between the two travel lanes resulted in an increase in drivers' yielding from 11% of vehicles in the control condition to 16% in the experimental condition. It was concluded that the treatments explored in these studies do not appear promising for double-lane roundabouts, but should be explored further to see if they might work at single-lane crossings.
Format:
PDF
Funding:
DTFH61-02-C-00064
Collection(s):
Federal Highway Administration
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:62df8face1ade10aaf0ceeed81af8f1756893291e3ccb960cc613505bb399024
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/35912/dot_35912_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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