An experiment is being undertaken by the FHWA to determine if the ability to capture extensive amounts of driver performance data can provide the basis for understanding the effects of various pavement marking treatments on driver behavior and ultimately road safety. The experiment involves field studies and subject testing in a driving simulator. A real section of road was used for the field studies and then later modeled in detail for the simulator studies. Pavement marking treatments included varying the brightness of lines, use of centerlines only, centerlines and edgelines, and supplementary warning markings (i.e., horizontal signing) and raised pavement marker. A group of drivers varying in age and gender drove the same section of road several times over a period of two weeks during which the pavement markings treatments at various sections of the road were altered. The subjects drove a vehicle that was instrumented to capture lane position, speed, and subjective reactions. Data was gathered every tenth of a second over the course. The data are being analyzed to note significant deviations and map these both in time and spatially to other data describing road features and pavement marking treatments. Similar experiments are planned for a larger pool of subjects in the driving simulator. It is expected that the research will yield insights into means to convey guidance and warning information to drivers in a cost effective manner. Such insights are expected to be valuable in the US and other parts of the world (A). For the covering abstract of the conference see E217780.
Abstract