An evaluation of the effectiveness of auditory speeding warnings for commercial passenger vehicles - A field study in Wuhan, China

Auditory warning of speeding behavior is considered to be one of the most effective methods developed to reduce the accidents involving commercial passenger vehicles. Facing a complex, mixed traffic condition and a lot of risky driving behaviors in China, commercial passenger vehicles need an effective speeding warning system to reduce the high accident rate related to these vehicles. Although many automobile manufacturers have installed the speeding warning systems on their vehicles, the styles of these auditory speeding warning systems are different, and no study has been found to investigate the effectiveness of the auditory speeding warning systems for commercial passenger vehicles. Therefore, this paper is intent to fill such a gap and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of three speeding warning styles that can be used on commercial passenger vehicles. In this study, thirty drivers qualified for driving the commercial passenger vehicles are recruited and then asked to drive for four 80-km field trips on an expressway in Wuhan, China. Driving behavior is logged by a monitoring system and is monitored by two observers during these trips. Reaction time, perception time and responsive behaviors of drivers related to each of the three speeding warning systems are then compared. Driver’s preference to auditory warning styles is also collected through questionnaires after the field trip. Study results show that, under the three warning styles, driver’s biological characteristics (e.g., respiration and skin conductance) and the observed behaviors don’t show any significant differences, but the logged driving data show that the “Beep” sound is most effective and “Break sound” is the least, in terms of reducing speeding duration and reaction time. Basically, the results of this study should provide a good reference for developing future voice-based speed warning systems for commercial passenger vehicles in China.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB70 Truck and Bus Safety.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • He, Yi
  • Yan, Xinping
  • Wu, Chaozhong
  • Zhong, Ming
  • Chu, Duanfeng
  • Huang, Zhen
  • Wang, Xu
• 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: 19p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commercial drivers; Commercial vehicles; Field studies; Highway safety; Questionnaires; Reaction time; Speed control; Speeding; Warning devices
• Geographic Terms: Wuhan (China)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01518769
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-2667
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 21 2014 11:26AM