PREDICTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HIGHWAY SIGNS

A NEW HIGHWAY SIGN MAY BE IN PLACE FOR SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE A SUFFICIENT FEEDBACK FROM MOTORISTS HAS ACCUMULATED TO PERMIT ADEQUATE EVALUATION OF ITS EFFECTIVENESS. A STUDY IS DESCRIBED IN WHICH A FILM TECHNIQUE WAS UTILIZED TO PREDICT THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SEVERAL SIGNS PROPOSED FOR USE IN LOCATIONS WHERE A LANE IS TO BE DROPPED. EACH SIGN WAS PROPERLY INSTALLED ON THE HIGHWAY AND FILMED FROM A MOVING VEHICLE. THE FILMED DRIVES THUS OBTAINED WERE PRESENTED (IN RANDOM ORDER) TO GROUPS OF DRIVERS WHO RESPONDED, AFTER EACH, TO QUESTIONS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE HOW ACCURATELY THE INTENDED SIGN MESSAGE WAS PERCEIVED. ANALYSIS OF THESE RESPONSES PERMITTED THE SIGNS TO BE RANKED ON SEVERAL DIMENSIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS WERE THEN DRAWN AS TO THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SIGNS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/324/324-001.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 324, pp 1-11, 1 FIG, 5 TAB, 2 REF, 2 APP Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Burg, Albert
  • Hulbert, Slade F
• Conference:
  • 41st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 1962-1-8 to 1962-1-12
• Publication Date: 1962

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Freeway operations
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 324
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drivers; Economic efficiency; Motion; Motion pictures; Motor vehicles; Reaction time; Testing; Traffic signs; Warning signs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver reaction; Efficiency; Moving vehicles
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225233
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 29 1994 12:00AM