Evaluation of Design Alternatives of Peripheral Transverse Bars to Reduce Vehicle Speeds and Center Line Encroachment in a Driving Simulator

A past research effort investigated perceptual countermeasures using pavement marking patterns in New York, Mississippi, and Texas. The study showed that placing the markings at 4 bars per second were effective in reducing vehicle speeds. The purpose of the current study is to investigate differences between four different pavement marking spacing designs (constant, exponential, 2 bars per second, and 4 bars per second) in a driving simulator. In addition, the study evaluates vehicle lane placement to determine whether or not the markings can cause drivers to have fewer encroachments toward the center line which could potentially have a safety benefit on two lane roads. The study found no significant difference between the various treatments applied to the simulated roadway. However, an analysis of vehicle speeds at the end of the treatment area to see if they had reached the desired speeds showed that in all cases where a reduction was required without stopping, the observed speeds were within a 95% confidence interval of the desired speeds. An analysis of lane position was performed, and for the two bars per second and four bars per second design alternatives, the driver did travel significantly further away from the centerline. Additional research in the field may quantify the magnitude of the effect as well as possible safety implications in reducing crashes on two lane roads.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Katz, Bryan
  • Molino, John
  • Rakha, Hesham Ahmed
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2008-1-13 to 2008-1-17
• Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: DVD
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 13p
• Monograph Title: TRB 87th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automated highways; Highway curves; Highway safety; Lane lines; Pavement grooving; Road markings; Simulation; Speed; Speeding
• Identifier Terms: Smart Roads program
• Geographic Terms: Mississippi; New York (New York); Texas
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01100657
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 08-1251
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 3 2008 7:32AM