Abstract
Guide signs are an important source for drivers to obtain road information. However, the evaluation methods for the effectiveness of guide signs are not unified. The quantitative model for evaluating guide signs needs to be constructed to unify the current system of guide signs. This study aims to take the commonly used guide signs in China as the research object to explore the evaluation method of guide signs at intersections. Eight kinds of guide signs were designed and made based on the common layout (layout 1 and layout 2) and the amount of information on signs (3–6). Thirty-four drivers were recruited to organize a driving simulation based on the visual cognitive tasks. Drivers’ legibility time and driver behavior were obtained by using the driving simulator and E-Prime program. A comprehensive quantitative evaluation model of guide signs was established based on the factor analysis method and grey correlation analysis method from the perspective of safe driving. The results show that there is no significant difference in the SD of speed and the SD of acceleration under the influence of various guide signs. The average vehicle speed and acceleration decrease, and the lateral offset distance of the vehicle increases with the amount of information on guide signs increasing. The quantitative evaluation results of guide signs show that the visual security decreases with the increase of the amount of information on guide signs. And layout 2 has better performance than layout 1 when the amount of information on guide signs is the same. This study not only explores the change rule of driving behavior under the influence of guide signs, but also provides a reference for the selection of guide signs.
Highlights
Traffic guide signs are a universal language accepted by the traffic participants and are essential safety facilities on the road
The results show that the English road names on the bilingual guide signs do not have much practical effect on the drivers according to the visual accuracy and the driving behavior indicators
The effectiveness of visual cognition time as a safety evaluation index of guide signs has been proved [24], the visual cognition time is static in mostly studies, and the visual cognition time is different between static and dynamic conditions [25], and the visual cognition time is influenced by many factors [26, 27]
Summary
Traffic guide signs are a universal language accepted by the traffic participants and are essential safety facilities on the road. There are certain differences in the component elements of guide signs in various regions These differences may affect the process of drivers’ target information visual cognition and the safe driving of drivers [3, 4]. Yang et al [10] organized three batches of drivers with different levels of English proficiency to conduct a driving simulation test, and the information threshold of the bilingual guide signs in both Chinese and English on the highway was obtained qualitatively. The effectiveness of visual cognition time as a safety evaluation index of guide signs has been proved [24], the visual cognition time is static in mostly studies, and the visual cognition time is different between static and dynamic conditions [25], and the visual cognition time is influenced by many factors [26, 27]. It provided a reference for the reasonable and objective quantitative evaluation of guide signs
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