WRONG-WAY DRIVING: OFF-RAMP STUDIES

DRIVERS WERE OBSERVED AND QUESTIONED AND THEIR RESPONSES WERE MEASURED AS THEY UNEXPECTEDLY CAME UPON DO NOT ENTER SIGNS WHILE DRIVING IN THE DRIVING SIMULATION LABORATORY. RED AND WHITE SIGNS ELICITED AN EARLIER RESPONSE THAN DID THE BLACK-AND-WHITE SIGNS, AND MORE DRIVERS RESPONDED CORRECTLY TO THE RED-AND-WHITE SIGNS. THIS FINDING WAS CROSS-VALIDATED BY TESTS AT ANOTHER LOCATION. A SECOND SET OF SIGNS WAS TESTED AT THE SECOND LOCATION. RESULTS AT THIS WRITING ARE NOT CONCLUSIVE REGARDING THE RELATIVE NOTICEABILITY OF THE FOUR DIFFERENT MESSAGES. PRELIMINARY EVALUATION WAS MADE OF THE APPEARANCE OF LANELINE ARROWHEADS PAINTED ON EVERY FOURTH DASHED LINE OF AN OTHERWISE STANDARD LANE MARKING. THE ARROWHEADS WERE ORIENTED IN THE DIRECTION OF NORMAL FLOW, SO THAT A WRONG-WAY DRIVER WOULD ENCOUNTER A SERIES OF ARROWS WITH THEIR POINTS FACING HIM. THIS PARTICULAR TYPE OF LANE-LINE ARROW MARKING WAS JUDGED NOT SUFFICIENTLY NOTICEABLE TO ALERT A WRONG-WAY DRIVER. OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE OF SEVERAL STYLES OF PAVEMENT MARKING ARROWS. WHEN APPROACHING THEM FROM THE POINTED END, AS A WRONG-WAY DRIVER WOULD IN ATTEMPTING TO ENTER AN OFF-RAMP, THE STANDARD ARROWS /WHICH ORIGINALLY WERE DEVELOPED AS DIRECTIONAL GUIDES/ ARE NOT AS DETECTABLE AS TWO DIFFERENT STYLES. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1966/122/122-004.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 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:
  • Hulbert, Slade
  • Beers, Jinx
• Publication Date: 1966

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 35-49
• Monograph Title: Road user characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 122
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arrows (Signals); Color; Drivers; Driving; Driving simulators; Freeways; Location; Off ramps; Prevention; Reaction time; Road markings; Safety; Studies; Traffic lanes; Traffic signs; Warning signs; Wrong way driving
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver reaction
• Old TRIS Terms: Arrow (Traffic control); Freeway signs; Lanes; Traffic marking
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222527
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 18 1994 12:00AM