Influence of Mobile Work Zone Barriers in Maintenance Work Zones on Driver Behavior: A Driving Simulator Study
Highway construction projects often require temporary changes in roadway characteristics, such as the number of operational lanes, lane path, lane width, shoulder width, and posted speed limit. These modifications which are often temporary in nature have the potential to impact driving performance. Many research efforts have focused on developing standards to ensure the safety of drivers and workers in work zones, however comparatively little research has been conducted to better understand the influence of mobile work zone barriers (MWB), a relatively new type of positive barrier designed to protect workers in the activity area of a work zone, on driver behavior. The Oregon State University (OSU) Driving Simulator was used to evaluate the influence of an MWB on driver behavior in single left lane and right lane drop maintenance work zones on 4-lane, 2-way divided highways. Thirty six drivers traversed 144 work zones. Measures of vehicle trajectory, lateral position and glance patterns were recorded and examined. No statistical differences were observed in the glance patterns of drivers between work zones with and without the MWB, suggestive statistical differences were identified between average speeds in the taper and activity area of right lane closure work zones with speeds slightly slower in the presence of the MWB, and an eight inch shift to the right was observed in the lateral position of vehicles in the activity area of left lane drop work zones in the presence of the MWB. Results suggest that no critical hazards are introduced to drivers from the application of MWBs in maintenance work zones.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND10 Vehicle User Characteristics. Alternate title: Influence of Mobile Work Zone Barriers in Maintenance Work Zones on Driver Behavior: Driving Simulator Study
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Swake, Joshua
- Hurwitz, David S
- Neill, Justin
- Gambatese, John Anthony
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC
- Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
- Date: 2014
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 17p
- Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Behavior; Drivers; Driving simulators; Speed; Temporary barriers; Work zone safety
- Identifier Terms: Oregon State University
- Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01519507
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 14-2225
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Mar 26 2014 10:07AM