EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS HIGHWAY SIGNS

THIS EXPERIMENT WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SYMBOLS, SHAPE OF SIGNS, AND WORDS FOR WARNING OR DIRECTING THE VEHICLE DRIVER. THE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE SUBJECT TO REACT TO A SIGN WAS USED AS THE CRITERION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SIGN. TWENTY STANDARD SIGNS, SOME WISCONSIN AND SOME PENNSYLVANIA, WERE USED IN THE LABORATORY TESTS, THE SIGNS BEING PLACED 75 FEET FROM THE SUBJECT AND THE REACTION TIME MEASURED BY A CHRONOSCOPE READING TO .001 OF A SECOND. A TOTAL OF 160 DRIVERS WERE TESTED. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WAS SECURED BY A QUESTIONNAIRE CONCERNING SHAPE, SYMBOL, COLOR AND LETTERING ON WISCONSIN SIGNS. THE TESTS INDICATED THAT A LARGE SYMBOL ON ANY SHAPE SIGN IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN ANY COMBINATION OF WORDS AND SYMBOL. WORDS ALONE WERE LEAST EFFECTIVE. SHAPE OF SIGNS IS OF NO VALUE UNLESS THE MOTORIST IS FAMLIAR WITH ITS SPECIAL MEANING AND MANY DID NOT HAVE SUCH KNOWLEDGE. REPEATED TESTS INDICATED THAT REACTION TIME IS LESSENED BY FAMILIARITY. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/14/14P1-022.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 14, ParT I, PP 442-447, 7 FIG. 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:
  • Janda, H F
  • Volk, W N
  • Lloyd, M G
• Discussers:
  • Marsh, B
• Publication Date: 1935

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 6-7, 1934. Part I
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 14
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Color; Direction signs; Lettering; Measures of effectiveness; Reaction time; Road markings; Shape; Symbols; Traffic signs; Warning signs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness
• Old TRIS Terms: Directional sign; Letters; Word markings
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221008
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 15 1971 12:00AM