At the end of February 2003, Transportation Planning (International) Ltd, (TPi), in association with Social Research Associates, (SRA), were appointed by the Department for Transport to undertake a research project to establish the understanding of traffic signs. Following an initial meeting with the Department it was decided that the objectives of the research would be extended to cover: • how do we ensure that regulatory signs make drivers comply with legal requirements in a safe and simple manner? • what are the best ways of conveying information on warning, informatory and direction signs? • are the signing rules too complex? • how competent are the practitioners? and • can improvements be suggested? This investigation concerns the perception and understanding of traffic signs among specific groups of drivers: male/female, recently qualified and more experienced, ethnic minorities and professional (or semi-professional) drivers. In contrast to earlier UK-based research, the study was geared to the driving situation, rather than an artificial environment such as a home interview. This was made possible by advances in video and computer technology since the last major study of British traffic signs was undertaken by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (now the TRL) in 1985. (Author/publisher)
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