Impact of perceptual countermeasures on driving behavior at curves using driving simulator

Traffic Inj Prev. 2019;20(1):93-99. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2018.1532568. Epub 2019 Mar 1.

Abstract

Objective: The probability of crash occurrence on horizontal curves is 1.5 to 4 times higher than that on tangent sections. A majority of these crashes are associated with human errors. Therefore, human behavior in curves needs to be corrected.

Methodology: In this study, 2 different road marking treatments, optical circles and herringbone patterns, were used to influence driver behavior while entering a curve on a 2-lane rural road section. A driving simulator was used to perform the experiment. The simulated road sections are replicas of 2 real road sections in Flanders.

Results: Both treatments were found to reduce speed before entering the curve. However, speed reduction was more gradual when optical circles were used. A herringbone pattern had more influence on lateral position than optical circles by forcing drivers to maintain a safe distance from opposing traffic in the adjacent lane.

Conclusion: The study concluded that among other low-cost speed reduction methods, optical circles are effective tools to reduce speed and increase drivers' attention. Moreover, a herringbone pattern can be used to reduce crashes on curves, mainly for head-on crashes where the main problem is inappropriate lateral position.

Keywords: Driving simulator; driving behavior; herringbone pattern; horizontal curves; optical circles; road marking.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acceleration*
  • Accidents, Traffic
  • Adult
  • Attention
  • Automobile Driving / psychology*
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Environment Design
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Safety
  • Task Performance and Analysis*