00732283

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1550-04

http://scholar.google.com...urns&publication_year=1996

A research study conducted to evaluate the efficacy of flashing amber signal phasing is reported. Flashing amber, which is set to overlap with the green indication a few seconds before the onset of solid amber, is a form of time reference aid used to warn drivers of an impending onset of amber. The time reference aid is a concept predicated on the principle that driver decisions will be easier and more predictable if drivers have advance information that allows them to predict the onset of amber. The evaluation of the flashing amber method showed that its implementation has the potential to reduce red-light violations, severity of maximum decelerations, and kinematically defined inappropriate stop or cross decisions. However, the data also showed that compared with the regular signal phasing, the flashing amber phasing increased the size of the indecision zone, a mechanism usually responsible for increased rear-end collisions. A measure not previously used in literature was introduced to compare the regular and the experimental signal phasing. This measure, which analyzes first-response time variability in relation to the indecision zone, predicted that increased rear-end collisions might be expected as a result of implementation of the flashing amber signal phasing. Generally, the results suggest that the implementation of a flashing amber signal phasing would not significantly increase intersection safety despite the notion that it would improve driver anticipation of the onset of solid amber.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1550, Human Performance, Driving Simulation, Information Systems, and Older Drivers.

English

p. 23-29

1996

Transportation Research Record

0309059232

Figures (3) ; References (18) ; Tables (3)

Driving simulators; Emergency response time; Flashing traffic signals; Human subject testing; Measures of effectiveness; Reaction time; Rear end crashes; Traffic signal phases; Warning signals; Yellow interval (Traffic signal cycle)

Effectiveness; Flashing yellow signals

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor

TRIS, TRB

Feb 4 1997 12:00AM

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• COMPUTATIONAL DRIVER MODEL IN TRANSPORT ENGINEERING: COSMODRIVE
• DRIVING SIMULATOR VALIDITY: SOME CONSIDERATIONS
• IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF GLARE FROM FOLLOWING VEHICLES ON TARGET DETECTION IN DRIVING SIMULATOR
• INTERNATIONAL TOURIST GUIDANCE NEEDS AND UNDERSTANDING OF SELECTED GUIDE SIGNS IN FLORIDA
• INVESTIGATING EFFECT OF ADVANCED TRAVELER INFORMATION ON COMMUTER TENDENCY TO USE TRANSIT
• LINK FLOW EVALUATION USING LOOP DETECTOR DATA: TRAVELER RESPONSE TO VARIABLE-MESSAGE SIGNS
• MEASURING DRIVER PERFORMANCE IN BRAKING MANEUVERS
• MOTORIST ATTITUDES ABOUT CONTENT OF VARIABLE-MESSAGE SIGNS
• SELF-REPORTED EXPOSURE AND CRASH INVOLVEMENT IN LARGE SAMPLE OF ONTARIO DRIVERS AGED 79 YEARS AND OVER