The Effect of Advisory Messages on Driver Behavior During Inclement Weather

The Effect of Advisory Messages on Driver Behavior During Inclement Weather
Author: Desirée Dulcinéa Carron
Publisher:
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2015
Genre: Automobile driving in bad weather
ISBN:

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This research examines the effectiveness of advisory variable speed limit (VSL) and advisory variable message sign (VMS) messaging on reducing traffic speeds during inclement weather conditions. Regulatory variable speed limit infrastructure is costly to install, whereas advisory messaging enables state transportation departments to utilize existing infrastructure in an effort to slow traffic during winter storms and improve safety. This study utilized roadway sensor data in southern New Hampshire, roadway grip data obtained from a Road and Weather Information System (RWIS) station located in Derry, New Hampshire, and New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) winter weather logs obtained from the Transportation Management Center (TMC). The data were used to determine the impact the advisory messages had on reducing traffic speeds as compared to the impact roadway grip has on speed reduction. Overall, this analysis indicates that, while drivers do adjust their rates of speed based on the roadway grip value, the presence of both prescriptive and descriptive messages appears to cause them to reduce their rate of speed even further than they otherwise would, especially during storm events with large amounts of accumulating precipitation. Speed reductions were found to be more significant while prescriptive messages were displayed, although significant reductions in speed were also noted while descriptive messages were displayed. After controlling for the slowdown caused by a reduction in roadway grip, it was determined that the presence of prescriptive messages reduces the mean speed by 9.5 mph, and descriptive messages reduces the speed by 2.5 mph.

Behavioural Adaptation and Road Safety

Behavioural Adaptation and Road Safety
Author: Christina Rudin-Brown
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 471
Release: 2013-05-24
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1439856672

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Despite being an accepted construct in traffic and transport psychology, the precise nature of behavioural adaptation, including its causes and consequences, has not yet been established within the road safety community. A comprehensive collection of recent literature, Behavioural Adaptation and Road Safety: Theory, Evidence, and Action explores behavioural adaptation in road users. It examines behavioural adaptation within the context of historical and theoretical perspectives, and puts forth tangible—and practical—solutions that can effectively address adverse behavioural adaptation to road safety interventions before it occurs. Edited by Christina Rudin-Brown and Samantha Jamson, with chapters authored by leading road safety experts in driver psychology and behaviour, the book introduces the concept of behavioural adaptation and details its more relevant issues. It reviews the definition of behavioural adaptation that was put forward by the OECD in 1990 and then puts this definition through its paces, identifying where it may be lacking and how it might be improved. This sets the context for the remaining chapters which take the OECD definition as their starting points. The book discusses the various theories and models of behavioural adaptation and more general theories of driver behaviour developed during the last half century. It provides examples of the "evidence" for behavioural adaptation—instances in which behavioural adaptation arose as a consequence of the introduction of safety countermeasures. The book then focuses on the internal, "human" element and considers countermeasures that might be used to limit the development of behavioural adaptation in various road user groups. The book concludes with practical tools and methodologies to address behavioural adaptation in research and design, and to limit the potential negative effects before they happen. Supplying easy-to-understand, accessible solutions that can be implemented early on in a road safety intervention’s design or conception phase, the chapters represent the most extensive compilation of literature relating to behavioural adaptation and its consequences since the 1990 OECD report. The book brings together earlier theories of behavioural adaptation with more recent theories in the area and combines them with practical advice, methods, and tangible solutions that can minimise the potential negative impact of behavioural adaptation on road user safety and address it before it occurs. It is an essential component of any road safety library, and should be of particular relevance to researchers, practitioners, designers, and policymakers who are interested in maximizing safety while at the same time encouraging innovation and excellence in road transport-related design.

Traffic Safety and Human Behavior

Traffic Safety and Human Behavior
Author: David Shinar
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 828
Release: 2007-10-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0080450296

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Describes the basic research procedures used in the area of driving behavior and highway safety.

Speed Management

Speed Management
Author: European Conference of Ministers of Transport
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2006-10-13
Genre:
ISBN: 9282103781

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Speeding is the number one road safety problem in a large number of OECD/ECMT countries. It is responsible for around one third of the current, unacceptably high levels of road fatalities. Speeding has an impact not only on accidents but also on the ...

Winter Maintenance and Preservation 2013

Winter Maintenance and Preservation 2013
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2013
Genre: Bridges
ISBN:

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"TRB Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2329 consists of eight papers that explore highway anti-icer performance, remote sensing of weather and road surface conditions, statewide benefits of winter maintenance operations, measurement of salt on winter pavements, rural variable speed limits, extreme weather risk indicators, macroscopic traffic parameters, and temperature distribution in soil profiles." Pub. info.

Effects of Adverse Winter Weather Conditions on Highway Traffic and Driver Behavior

Effects of Adverse Winter Weather Conditions on Highway Traffic and Driver Behavior
Author: Ting Fu
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

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"This research looks into the impact of adverse winter weather conditions on highway driver behaviors using microscopic data from loop detectors and video cameras (e.g., hourly average speed, trajectories, lane changes, time-to-collisions measures). This thesis is composed of two main sections in addition to the introductory section: i) direct and lagged effects of adverse weather on hourly speeds and volumes; and ii) direct effect of adverse weather on driver behaviors (microscopic) measured at the vehicle level using video data. The first part of the thesis presents a review of literature related to past research on the topic. The second part investigates the direct and lagged effects of adverse winter weather conditions on the operating speed in a number of highway segments in Ontario using a time-series approach. This is complemented by the analysis of hourly traffic volumes in the region of Montreal, Canada, using data from magnetic loop detectors as well. In speed modeling, the effect of adverse weather was studied using data from multiple sites including both urban and rural highways, considering weekdays versus weekends separately. For this purpose, a large dataset containing hourly traffic data, weather variables (e.g., temperature, snow, wind speed), and surface conditions was used. A few previous studies have examined the effect of snowstorms on traffic parameters; however, little research has been done regarding the spillover effects (lagged effects) that adverse weather conditions may have on travel demand and traffic patterns. Extreme events or weather conditions might have a strong effect on traffic conditions not only during the events, but also before and after the events. In this study, time-series regression techniques -- in particular, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models were used to model the highway operating speed. These methods are able to consider the serial correlation among error terms. The results indicate that snowstorms have a statistically significant effect on the speed. The lagged effects are however offset by the time and intensity of winter maintenance operations during and after the event. The effect of weather also varies depending on the type of site (urban or rural) and day of the week. Similarly, the effects of different weather variables including their lagged effects were analyzed using hourly traffic volume data. Despite the fact that information of the road surface condition was not available, this analysis is in accordance with previous finding, showing the utility of ARIMA approaches in modeling the highway volume as well. The results of this study can be applied in quantifying the mobility effect of winter weather and benefits of winter road maintenance. In recent years, driver behavior analysis using microscopic (vehicle level) data is a topic that is attracting more attention in road safety analysis. This popularity has brought about research in many different innovative techniques and microscopic measures used to quantify and analyze driver behavior. In the second part of this thesis, it demonstrates a method of analyzing driver behavior using video data approach. This thesis elucidates both a manual and an automated, computer-based method to analyze driver behavior. It also uses the computer-based method to evaluate the effect of adverse winter weather conditions on the driver behavior of highway users. Both the manual and the automated approaches have been used with 15 video recordings obtained from three different locations on the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) in Toronto, Ontario. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the automated method in analyzing driver behavior, as well as in evaluating the impact of adverse winter weather conditions on driver behavior." --