Qatar University - Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center, College of Engineering, P.O.Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
UHasselt, Transportation Research Institute (IMOB), Agoralaan, 3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Accid Anal Prev. 2021 Feb;150:105916. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2020.105916. Epub 2020 Dec 6.
Transition zones are a road section where posted speed drops from higher to lower limits. Due to the sudden changes in posted speed limits and road environment, drivers usually do not adapt to the posted speed limits and underestimate their traveling speed. Previous studies have highlighted that crash rates are usually higher in these sections. This study aims at improving the safety at transition zones by introducing perceptual measures that are tested using a driving simulator. The proposed measures are speed limit pavement markings with a gradual increase of brightness and/or size that were placed at transition zones in simulation scenarios replicating the real-world environment of the Doha Expressway in Qatar. These innovative measures aim to produce the impression of increased speed that could stimulate drivers to better adapt speed limits. The driving behavior of 81 drivers possessing a valid Qatari driving license was recorded with a driving simulator interfaced with STISIM Drive® 3. Results showed that pavement markings combining size and brightness manipulations were the most effective treatment, keeping drivers' traveling speed significantly below the traveling speed recorded in the untreated control condition. In this regard, the maximum mean speed reductions of 5.3 km/h and 4.6 km/h were observed for this treatment at the first transition (120 to 100 km/h) and second transition (100 to 80 km/h) zones, respectively. Regarding the variations in drivers' lateral position, the results showed that the proposed pavement markings did not negatively influence drivers' lateral control on the road as the maximum observed standard deviation of lateral position was around 0.065 m. This study shows that the proposed pavement markings are recommended for improving the speed adaptation of drivers in the transition zones.
过渡区是指从较高限速降至较低限速的路段。由于限速和道路环境的突然变化，驾驶员通常无法适应限速，从而低估自己的行驶速度。先前的研究表明，这些路段的事故率通常更高。本研究旨在通过引入感知措施来提高过渡区的安全性，这些措施将在驾驶模拟器中进行测试。拟议的措施是在过渡区设置限速路面标记，其亮度和/或尺寸逐渐增加，这些标记是在卡塔尔多哈高速公路的真实环境中复制的模拟场景中设置的。这些创新措施旨在产生速度增加的印象，从而刺激驾驶员更好地适应限速。81 名持有卡塔尔有效驾照的驾驶员的驾驶行为通过与 STISIM Drive®3 接口的驾驶模拟器进行了记录。结果表明，尺寸和亮度同时变化的路面标记是最有效的处理方法，可使驾驶员的行驶速度明显低于未处理的对照条件下记录的行驶速度。在这种情况下，在第一个过渡区（120 至 100 公里/小时）和第二个过渡区（100 至 80 公里/小时），该处理的最大平均速度降低分别为 5.3 公里/小时和 4.6 公里/小时。关于驾驶员横向位置的变化，结果表明，所提出的路面标记不会对驾驶员在道路上的横向控制产生负面影响，因为观察到的最大横向位置标准差约为 0.065 米。本研究表明，所提出的路面标记建议用于提高过渡区驾驶员的速度适应能力。
