Don’t shoot the messenger: Traffic-irrelevant messages on variable message signs (VMSs) might not interfere with traffic management

Road authorities struggle with the question whether variable message signs (VMSs) should exclusively be used for traffic management or could also be used to display traffic-irrelevant messages, such as mottos or commercial advertisements. The current study assesses behavioural responses to a critical route instruction displayed on the same VMS that previously displayed a variety of traffic-irrelevant messages. For this, thirty-two participants were divided between a control group and an experimental group (the advertisements group). In a driving simulator, all were familiarised with the same route by driving a VMS-equipped motorway nine times. For the advertisements group, up to drive 8, this VMS displayed various advertisements. Whereas for the control group it was blank. In the 9th drive, the VMS displayed a critical detour message for all participants. This critical route instruction – informing drivers to take the nearest exit – resulted in compliant driver behaviour in the advertisements group. In addition, they only reduced speed marginally to increase the time to process the VMS text. The control group, on the contrary, displayed a much sharper speed reduction; though the instruction only moderately altered motorway exit behaviour. What is more, the 31% (n = 4) of the advertisements group who complied with the critical route instruction subsequently failed to recall this message (recalling an advertisement instead). In conclusion, this study provides evidence that displaying traffic-irrelevant messages on VMSs might not interfere with traffic management; provided the format of said messages is in accordance with ergonomic VMS guidelines as used in this study. It is proposed that due to repeated exposure to various VMS texts, reading the sign has been practised to the extent that little to no conscious deliberation was required. As a result, recall of what was seen, proved to be an inadequate proxy for assessing driver behaviour. This study shows that conscious attention might not be a prerequisite for compliance. Furthermore, it suggests that continuous variability in objects in the traffic environment may become part of a subconscious monitoring process, as long as they have been sufficiently practised.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.09.011
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847816305915
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13698478
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Harms, Ilse M
  • Dijksterhuis, Chris
  • Jelijs, Bart
  • de Waard, Dick
  • Brookhuis, Karel A
• Publication Date: 2019-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 564-575
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
  • Volume: 65
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 1369-8478
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13698478

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advertising; Attention; Compliance; Driving simulators; Ergonomics; Highway traffic control; Memory; Variable message signs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Consciousness
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01682891
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 10 2018 4:41PM