Evaluating Countermeasures to Improve Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety

Pedestrian crashes have reached an alarming level in the U.S. Different factors could contribute to the occurrence of these crashes at an intersection, including driver errors, the type of maneuver, and pedestrian behaviors. All these factors highlight the need to develop a traffic warning signal to protect pedestrians and bicyclists at intersections. Therefore, a supplemental traffic signal has been proposed to warn the left-turning driver about crossing pedestrians and bicyclists at intersections. This signal will be activated when the pedestrian pushes a call button or when a bicyclist has been detected by a detection loop. The aim of this supplemental traffic signal is to enhance pedestrian and bicyclist detection by warning drivers who are focusing their attention on finding a gap in the oncoming traffic. A number of different supplemental warning traffic signal designs were proposed, and the evaluation of their designs was split into two stages. Stage 1 involved a screening tool to eliminate weak designs that are confusing or have poor legibility by asking drivers how well each design conveys the message. After collecting and analyzing 259 responses, results showed that two designs, identified throughout the report as Design 1 and Design 3, were ranked the highest. Design 1 is a supplemental yellow pedestrian warning indication. Design 3 is a modified version of an R10-15 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) sign. Stage 2 involved an open-ended question survey that asked subjects to interpret the meaning of Design 1 and Design 3. A total of 145 responses were collected in Stage 2. An analysis of Stage 2 responses found Design 3 to be the most promising design for communicating the presence of conflicting pedestrians to left-turning drivers. Findings from the survey process will facilitate the evaluation of the scenarios on a driving-simulator platform by narrowing the conditions and factors tested during the experiment.

• Record URL:
  http://safersim.nads-sc.uiowa.edu/final_reports/UW 3 Y2_Report.pdf
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/35407
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Safety Research Using Simulation University Transportation Center (SaferSim)

  University of Iowa
  Iowa City, IA  United States  52242

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Noyce, David A
  • Chitturi, Madhav V
  • Alsghan, Ibrahim
  • Santiago, Kelvin R
  • Bill, Andrea R
• Publication Date: 2017-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 44p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Countermeasures; Cyclists; Design; Drivers; Evaluation and assessment; Left turns; Pedestrian safety; Signalized intersections; Traffic signals; Warning signs
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01653392
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Dec 12 2017 5:13PM