Motorists' willingness to drive through flooded roads: Evidence from a stated preference experiment

Abstract

AbstractWe conduct a stated‐preference choice experiment to reveal motorists' driving‐related behavioral responses to different types of signs indicating that the road is flooded and travel costs associated with avoidance of the flooded road. We use three flood‐indicating visualization treatments and control group to identify the effects of particular road signs and identify associations between drivers' behavior and their demographic characteristics and the cost (time) of taking an alternate route. Using responses from 714 adult participants from the coastal area of the Mid‐Atlantic of the United States, we estimate willingness to drive additional minutes to avoid flooded roads using a random utility framework. Our results suggest that individuals are more likely to avoid flooded roads when shown flood‐indicating road signs that do not indicate the exact depth of the water and signs that indicate that the water is relatively deep (more than 12 in.). We further find that individuals tend to persist in their initial choices. They often make risky choices when high risk‐indicating information is presented at the beginning of the decision‐making process. The results of this study can help inform the sign design choices of transportation managers to help ensure driver safety in flood conditions.