01590401

Component

This paper presents the results of a study to evaluate drivers’ responses to an in-vehicle “School Bus Stopped Ahead” message and to similar roadside signing. The on-road study took drivers through four bus stops: two equipped with a static MUTCD-approved “School Bus Stop Ahead” sign and two in which drivers were presented with an in-vehicle message indicating a school bus stopped ahead. Researchers evaluated each driver’s response through analysis of vehicle kinematics (speed, longitudinal acceleration, and jerk) when a bus was staged either beyond the roadside sign or beyond the point at which the in-vehicle message was presented. Driver responses for each condition were compared to the baseline condition that described their behavior when no bus was present on the roadway. The results indicated that in-vehicle messages provided the drivers with a reliable means of communicating the hazard of a stopped school bus ahead. After receiving an in-vehicle message, drivers exhibited a nearly immediate response to in-vehicle messages as evidenced by statistically significant changes in jerk, deceleration, and vehicle speed when compared to baseline conditions. The corresponding roadside sign conditions provided little evidence of modifying driver behavior prior to visually observing a stopped school bus in the roadway.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND20 Standing Committee on User Information Systems.

01584066

16-4062

English

20p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Web

Figures; Maps; Photos; References (20) ; Tables

Audible warning devices in vehicles; Behavior; Braking; Driver performance; Drivers; Hazards; School buses; Traffic control devices

Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-4062

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 5:47PM