Author: Julius CodjoePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Railroad crossings
Languages : en
Pages : 82
Book Description
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Regulatory and Warning Signs on Driver Behavior Near Highway/rail Crossings
Author: Julius CodjoePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Railroad crossings
Languages : en
Pages : 82
Book Description
An Evaluation of Traffic Control Devices and Driver Distraction on Driver Behavior at Railway-highway Grade Crossings
Author: Radhameris A. Gomez GabrielPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
At-grade crossings (grade crossings) are those crossings in which any part of a roadway intersects with railroad tracks. Safety at these railroad-highway grade crossings is a major concern, with traffic control warning devices serving as the main mechanisms for improving safety. There are three factors that influence a driver's behavior at a given crossing. First, traffic control devices, including warning devices at the railroad-highway grade crossings, provide the driver with information whose impact will depend in part on the likelihood that the driver knows whether to glance in the direction of the device based on prior experience, and in part on what the driver understands the warning device to mean. Second, assuming that the driver identifies the warning, the driver's prior knowledge influences his or her expectancy regarding various railroad-highway grade crossing situations and, therefore, the way in which the driver responds to the hazard presented by the crossing. Finally, the driver's own physiological (e.g., impaired) and psychological (e.g., distracted) state will modify the role that conspicuity and expectancy have on the driver's behavior. This dissertation centers on the impact of distraction and the effect of traffic control and warning devices have on stopping behavior and glance behaviors at non-gated railroad-highway grade crossings and studies a possible countermeasure which when combined with traffic control and warning devices can mitigate the effects of distraction due to less than optimal glance patterns. Two driving simulator experiments were conducted that arguably targeted the most critical need, in particular the need to identify the role that distraction has on the effectiveness of traffic control and warning devices at grade crossings. Ninety-nine participants were evaluated across two driving simulator experiments. For the first experiment, the role distraction plays in reducing the benefit of crossbuck and flashing lights was analyzed. Participants either engaged in a distracting task or did not engage. The secondary tasks included a mock cell phone conversation or an in-vehicle task where the participant driver was asked to change the radio station. The first experiment showed participants in all groups had trouble navigating the grade crossing environment thus pointing to the need to evaluate supplementary treatments which may benefit driver behavior at these crossings. The second simulator experiment evaluated the impact of the dynamic envelope pavement markings on driver glance pattern and behavior as they approached grade crossings while drivers also performed a distracting or non-distracting task. Results show that the addition of these markings can alert drivers of the presence of a grade crossing with anticipation, and as a result induce drivers to glance more and potentially stop in higher proportions than when the markings are not present.
Driver Behavior at Rail-highway Crossings. Final Report
Author: Neil LernerDriver Behavior Analysis at Highway-rail Grade Crossings Using Field Operational Test Data--light Vehicles, Final Report
Author: Tashi NgamdungPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Highway-railroad grade crossings
Languages : en
Pages : 44
Book Description
"Abstract: The U. S. Department of Transportation's (U.S. DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration's (RITA) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), under the direction of the U.S. DOT Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Research and Development (R&D), conducted a research study focused on collecting and analyzing data related to driver behavior at or on approach to highway-rail grade crossings. Volpe Center reviewed and coded 4,215 grade crossing events involving light vehicle drivers collected during a recent field operational test of vehicle safety systems. The data collected for reach grade crossing included information about drivers' activities, driver and vehicle performance, driving environment, and vehicle location at or on approach to highway-rail grade crossings. / One of the findings of the data analysis was that, on average, drivers were likely to engage in secondary tasks 46.7 percent of the time. Additionally, results showed that drivers failed to look either left or right on approach to passive grade crossings approximately 35 percent of the time. The ultimate objective of this research study is to assess basic driver behavior at highway-rail grade crossings so as to identify potential driver education/awareness strategies that would best mitigate risky driver behavior at grade crossings."--Technical report documentation page.
Traffic Control Devices, Visibility, and Railroad Grade Crossings
Author: National Research Council (U.S.). Transportation Research BoardPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Automobile driving at night
Languages : en
Pages : 144
Book Description
Transportation Research Record 1495 contains the following papers: Effective use of variable message signs: Lessons learned through development of users' manuals; Motorist interpretation of yellow X and yellow diagonal arrow in freeway lane control signal array; Effects of pavement markings on driver behavior at freeway lane drop exits; Comparative study of advance warning signs at high speed signalized intersections; Evaluation of strobe lights in red lens of traffic signals; High-volume pedestrian crosswalk time requirements; Empirical analysis of traffic characteristics at two-way stop-controlled intersections in Alaska; Evaluation of proposed minimum retroreflectivity requirements for traffic signs; Detectability of pavement markings under stationary and dynamic conditions as a function of retroreflective brightness; Visibility of new yellow center stripes as a function of obliteration; Effects of lateral separation between double center-stripe pavement markings on visibility under nighttime driving conditions; Curve radius perception accuracy as function of number of delineation devices (Chevrons); Knowledge-based personal computer software package for applying and placing curve delineation devices; Visibility of new pavement markings at night under low-beam illumination; Loss of visibility distance caused by automobile windshields at night; Traffic sign reading distances and times during night driving; Yellow pavement markings with yellow nighttime color; Application of geographic information systems rail-highway grade crossing safety; Evaluation of accuracy of U.S. DOT rail-highway grade crossing accident prediction models.
Field Evaluation of Innovative Active Warning Devices for Use at Railroad-highway Grade Crossings
Author: Kenneth W. HeathingtonPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Highway-railroad grade crossings
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
Research was conducted to identify and evaluate innovative active warning devices with potential for improving safety at railroad-highway grade crossings. Candidate devices were identified and/or developed, and the most promising devices were evaluated in a detailed laboratory study. Three of the devices were chosen for field evaluation: (1) four-quadrant gates with skirts and flashing light signals; (2) four-quadrant flashing light signals with overhead strobes; and (3) highway traffic signals with white bar strobes in all red lenses. The report documents the methodology and results of the field evaluations, presents a summary of the research leading up to the field evaluations, and presents the results of benefit-cost analyses for the innovative devices and guidelines for their implementation.
Experimental Design for Evaluating the Safety Benefits of Railroad Advance Warning Signs
Author: William D. BergPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Railroad crossings
Languages : en
Pages : 68
Book Description
The report presents the findings and conclusions of a study to develop an experimental design and analysis plan for field testing and evaluation of the accident reduction potential of a proposed new railroad grade crossing advance warning sign. Several alternative sampling frameworks were initially developed to determine which might offer the most efficient design in terms of required sample size. The cost of undertaking the field studies and analyses was then evaluated so that it could be compared to the expected value or utility of the information to be derived from the study. The results indicated that the proposed accident study would be both experimentally and economically impractical. It was therefore recommended that an accident study not be undertaken. Several policy options were then examined.
Driver Behavior Analysis at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Using Field Operational Test Data Light Vehicles
Author: U.s. Department of TransportationPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781494717094
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 52
Book Description
The U. S. Department of Transportation's (U.S.DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration's (RITA) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), under the direction of the U.S.DOT Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Research and Development (R&D), conducteda research study focused on collecting and analyzing data related to driver behavior at or on approach to highway-rail grade crossings.VolpeCenter reviewedand coded 4,215 grade crossing eventsinvolving light vehicle drivers collected during a recent field operational test of vehicle safety systems.The data collected for each grade crossing included informationabout drivers' activities, driver and vehicle performance, driving environment, and vehicle location at or on approach tohighway-rail grade crossings.
Driver Behavior Analysis at Highway-rail Grade Crossings Using Field Operational Test Data
Author: U.s. Department of TransportationPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781723452888
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 52
Book Description
Driver behavior analysis at highway-rail grade crossings using field operational test data : heavy trucks /
Safety Evaluation of IdaShield Signs at Passive Railroad Crossings Using Crash Data Analysis, User Assessment Surveys, and Driving Simulation
Author: Alex S. GroverPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Highway-railroad grade crossings
Languages : en
Pages : 40
Book Description
This study evaluates the safety performance of the IdaShield experimental warning sign via crash data analysis, user assessment surveys, and driving simulation. Highway-rail crossing inventory and crash data from the Idaho Transportation Department and Federal Railroad Administration were used to develop a Safety Performance Function (SPF) for passive highway-rail crossings. A Highway Safety Manual Before/After Empirical Bayes analysis was performed using the SPF and revealed a significant decrease in crash frequency after the 1997-1998 IdaShield installations. This is the first study to develop a highway-rail crossing SPF and also use the SPF in the HSM Empirical Bayes method to evaluate the effectiveness of a sign treatment. A statistical comparison between nighttime and daytime crash frequency reduction due to IdaShield installations showed that the IdaShield performs notably better at nighttime relative to daytime. User assessment surveys and driving simulation revealed that drivers assign a "yield" meaning to the IdaShield.