A DRIVER INTERFACE FOR A ROAD HAZARD WARNING SYSTEM: DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY EVALUATION

This paper describes research concerning warnings for accident-provocative situations in a potential in-vehicle safety advisory and warning system (IVSAWS) implementation. Proposed hardware includes low-power radio beacons placed near hazards, and in-vehicle receivers to present visual or auditory messages to drivers. This research was conducted to evaluate concepts, not to establish a United States (U.S.) or international standard. Relying upon the literature, hazards were identified and prioritized. Candidate hazard warnings were developed for 30 hazards based on drawings from 10 UMTRI (University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute) employees. Subsequently, 75 drivers at a local licensing office ranked these warning symbols from best to worst. In many cases, particular symbols were preferred, not always the symbols in the standard U.S. set. In general, text messages were slightly preferred over symbolic messages. In a third experiment, 20 drivers were shown warnings, either while driving a test route or parked. Ten hazard location symbol designs were tested: 2 text, 4 arrow, 3 overview, and 1 inside-out. Each driver identified 10 hazard symbols shown individually, a single hazard symbol combined with a location cue, and 40 combinations of warning and location cues. Of the location cues, text was best understood. Prior to incorporating the recommended text and symbols into real products, additional research with a larger and more international sample of drivers is recommended.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Five volumes of papers and one volume of abstracts comprise the published set of conference materials.
• Corporate Authors:

  VERTIS

  TORANOMOM 34 MORI BUILDING 1-25-5
  TORANOMON, MINATOKU, TOKYO 105  Japan 
• Authors:
  • Green, P
• Conference:
  • Steps Forward. Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress
  • Location: Yokohama, Japan
  • Date: 1995-11-9 to 1995-11-11
• Publication Date: 1995-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 1797

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drivers; Hazard evaluation; Intelligent transportation systems; Interfaces; Perception; Route guidance; Symbols; Warning systems
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver perception; In-vehicle advisory; Text
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00723477
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Volume 4
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 29 1996 12:00AM