A Driving Simulator Study Evaluating Traffic Sign Mounting Height for Preventing Wrong-Way Driving

Wrong-way driving crashes only account for a small portion of the crashes throughout the United States; however, the head-on nature of these crashes is often considered to be more severe. The majority of fatal wrong-way crashes between 2004 and 2011 in the U.S. were caused by a driver under the influence of alcohol. The use of lower mounted wrong-way driving sign has shown to be a promising countermeasure. This study used a driving simulator to determine the effectiveness on impaired drivers of 3-foot mounted signs compared to the more-common practice of 7-foot mounted signs. It was found that, for potential wrong-way left turns, the 3-foot signs improved the drivers’ reaction time by 21% (0.888 sec.) and reduced the likelihood of the driver missing the sign from 19% to 3%. However, there was no significant difference for potential wrong-way right turns. Statistical analysis also showed that drivers were significantly more likely to miss wrong-way signs when making right turns.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHB50 Standing Committee on Traffic Control Devices. Alternate title: Driving Simulator Study to Evaluate Traffic Sign Mounting Height to Prevent Wrong-Way Driving
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Seitzinger, Robert
  • Fries, Ryan
  • Qi, Yan
  • Zhou, Huaguo
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash severity; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Impaired drivers; Reaction time; Right turns; Traffic signs; Wrong way driving
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01588987
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-1460
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 30 2016 6:07PM