Organisation: University of Leeds (Institute for Transport Studies)
Date uploaded: 16th July 2012
Date published/launched: Pre 2009
80 drivers took part in the driving simulator study. It primarily investigated the effectiveness of the individual messages and how their presence affected driver behaviour towards more critical tactical incident messages (TIM), such as those that might warn of an impending hazard. Both the content and concentration of the safety campaign messages were varied.
The safety campaign messages in themselves were not especially beneficial, in that drivers did not significantly modify their driving style purely on the advice of the messages. However, witnessing the odd VMS carrying such a message appeared to improve driver alertness to the context of the VMS and consequently response to a TIM became
more timely under these conditions. Yet, if the frequency of safety campaign messages was overly high, drivers became jaded with the VMS content and their ability to act appropriately to a TIM degraded.
For more information contact:
Dr. Hamish Jamson
T: +44 (0)113 34 35730
“The eye-tracking data recorded in the study showed that drivers continued to fixate on VMS carrying repeated safety messages, even though their presentation did not particularly influence their driving performance.”
A study of this type is long overdue, and road safety engineers and auditors will be pleased to see it. The result will be no surprise to them – or, I suspect to many road users, irritated by the content of these signs which is often patronising, ungrammatical or irrelevant, but is occasionally very important.
A surprise, however, is that the authors appear to equate alertness with continued fixation. To a lay reader, this suggests continued distraction – one of the most annoying things associated with the signs – and a potential danger because of what can be missed during periods of fixation.
A litle more work, therefore, is required, but if this paper helps to free drivers from some of these unnecessary distractions, it will have done them a considerable service. Let us hope that further work might lead to a reduction in distraction from those other unnecessary sighns that currently adorn our trunk roads.