Comprehension Of Traffic Signs Research Articles

Traffic sign comprehension among motorcyclists: the effect of sign display and sign type

The previous studies showed an inconsistent result for the effect of sign type on sign comprehension in different sign display. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the effect of sign display (symbol+text or symbol-only) and sign type (warning sign, regulatory sign, or command sign) on traffic sign comprehension. A mixed experimental design was conducted on 100 young adult motorcyclists in the Jabodetabek area with two years of riding experience. In each sign, participants were measured their reaction time to comprehend the sign (sign comprehension time) and the accuracy of the meaning of the sign (sign comprehension level). The result showed that the effect of sign display depends on the type of traffic signs both in sign comprehension time and comprehension level. Based on the results, it can be inferred that further training and socialization are needed to increase riders’ comprehension of all types of traffic signs.

Ergonomic factors affecting comprehension levels of traffic signs: A critical review

• Results indicate high variability in the comprehension levels of traffic signs. • Some traffic signs are comprehended only in specific contexts and some are not comprehended at all. • The use of Ergonomic principles can improve levels of comprehension of traffic signs. • Familiarity is the most consistent principle potentially determining the level of comprehension of traffic signs. • Traffic signs should be tested among heterogeneous target users before implementation. Comprehension of traffic signs is important to road safety. This review aims to study the extent to which road users in different countries comprehend traffic signs and to identify which ergonomic principles in traffic sign design can affect the levels of comprehension. We conducted an extensive literature review dealing with comprehension of public traffic signs directed at any road user. We searched Journal articles indexed by Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. The search identified 35 articles that assessed the comprehension of 931 traffic signs in 26 countries, including six studies that tested the comprehension of new versus existing traffic signs. Various methods have been implemented to measure traffic signs’ comprehension levels and assess traffic sign design’s conformity to different ergonomic principles. Results indicate high variability in the comprehension levels of signs, e.g., signs such as “Road works” and “No U-turn” are highly comprehended (comprehension levels over 90 %), while other signs like “termination of road” are rarely comprehended by road users. Regarding the acceptable comprehension levels, 23.1 % of the assessed traffic signs achieved levels above 85 %; and 53.3 % of signs have comprehension levels lower than 67 %. On the other hand, twenty-four studies evaluated how traffic signs comply with ergonomic design principles. Incorporating ergonomic principles into the design of traffic signs can improve comprehension levels. However, apart from the familiarity , there is uncertainty about the ergonomic principles that could maximize the comprehension of traffic signs. Efforts should be made to ensure that different populations of road users sufficiently comprehend traffic signs.

Effect of Signs Types on Level of Traffic Signs Understanding of Motorcyclists

Insufficient comprehension of traffic signs among motorcyclists is a contributing factor to traffic accidents. Furthermore, the ability to comprehend these signs is closely tied to the cognitive process of accurately interpreting the information conveyed, with one of the key influencing factors being the representation of signs themselves. Therefore, this research aimed to examine the effect of sign types on the understanding of traffic signs, utilizing an experimental research approach that employed a between-subject, randomized multi-group design. A sample of 80 motorcyclists aged 17-25 residing in the Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) areas was involved in the research. Participants were exposed to ten unfamiliar warning signs displayed on a computer, presented in three different formats, namely symbol, text, and symbol + text. Understanding of traffic signs was measured by level of signs comprehension (accuracy). The results showed that signs types significantly affected understanding of traffic signs. Furthermore, text and symbol + text signs resulted in higher level of understanding compared to symbols. The research implied the need for textual elements in the designs of warning signs to optimize understanding of traffic signs among motorcyclists.

How effective is training for improving traffic sign comprehension? Examining the interaction between training and sign type among motorcyclists

Previous research has demonstrated that training is an effective intervention to increase traffic sign comprehension among road users. However, the effectiveness of training may interact with the characteristics of the sign, and the evidence is still limited. The present study aimed to examine the effects of training and sign type on sign comprehension among motorcyclists. An experiment with 2 (Training: training vs control) x 3 (Sign Type: warning signs vs command signs vs regulatory signs) x 2 (Time: pre-test vs post-test) mixed design was conducted on seventy-nine motorcyclists aged 18 to 27 years old in the greater area of Jakarta. Participants were randomly divided into two groups (training and control), and the experiment was conducted individually using a computer. Sign comprehension level was then measured. Analysis of pre-test and post-test scores revealed that comprehension was lowest for warning signs across groups. A mixed factorial ANOVA showed a significant interaction effect between training and sign type on sign comprehension before and after training, with the group that received training showing the largest improvement in comprehending warning signs. This study implies that training is effective for improving sign comprehension, especially for warning signs, among motorcyclists. Development of training programs should thus take into account the differences among sign types to ensure their effectiveness.

Traffic Sign Comprehension among Filipino Drivers and Nondrivers in Metro Manila

The current study examined 73 existing traffic signs in Metro Manila for their matching accuracy, matching time, and cognitive design features. A total of 60 Filipinos (30 drivers and 30 nondrivers) were voluntarily recruited to perform a matching-based comprehension test. In a matching-based comprehension test, the traffic sign is matched with the most appropriate referent name which shows a clear-cut distinction between correct and incorrect answers. To assess a sign’s acceptability in a matching test, a level of at least 67% accuracy must be obtained in a comprehension test. For the matching accuracy, 27 of the 73 traffic signs did not comply with the 67% comprehension standard set by ISO 3864-1:2011. Drivers were found to have better matching accuracy for both regulatory and warning signs compared to nondrivers. Traffic signs displayed in symbols had the lowest matching accuracy and slowest matching time. When text was added to traffic signs displayed in symbols, matching accuracy and matching time improved significantly. However, signs displayed in text only obtained the highest matching accuracy and fastest matching time. The cognitive design features, which were the measurement of a sign’s design, were also assessed through their familiarity, concreteness, complexity, and semantic distance. Cognitive design features were found to be positively correlated to matching accuracy for both regulatory and warning signs, but negatively correlated to matching time for warning signs. For signs displayed in symbols, cognitive design features were also found to be correlated to matching accuracy and matching time. To improve comprehension and road safety, semantic distance, concreteness, and familiarity are the key cognitive design features which must be considered by traffic sign designers. Also, the Department of Transportation (Philippines) could adopt the matching test of this study as a mandatory retraining requirement for the renewal of a driver’s license. In addition, our matching-based comprehension test can also be applied and extended to evaluate existing traffic signs worldwide.

Traffic Signs Comprehension among Motorcyclists: The Effect of Sign Type and Sign Familiarity

The research aimed to examine the effect of sign types and sign familiarity on traffic sign comprehension. A mixed factorial design experiment involved manipulating two sign types (symbols vs symbols and text) and two sign familiarity (familiar vs unfamiliar) of a traffic sign, with sign familiarity as a within-subject factor. Previous studies had found a relationship between the lack of traffic sign comprehension and accident likelihood. However, there was still a lack of research examining the sign characteristics that influence sign comprehension among motorcyclists. Participants were 86 young riders aged 18 to 25 who had a minimum of three years of riding experience in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) areas. Participants were given warning signs; then, sign comprehension was measured using sign comprehension time and sign comprehension level. The results show that there is a significant effect of sign familiarity and interaction between sign types and sign familiarity on sign comprehension time. On the other hand, sign types, sign familiarity, and interaction between sign types and sign familiarity have a significant effect on sign comprehension level. The implication of the research is that sign familiarity and sign type must be taken into consideration in designing effective traffic signs, especially warning signs, to facilitate riders in understanding traffic signs more quickly and accurately.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAFFIC SIGN COMPREHENSION AND RISKY TRAFFIC BEHAVIORS

The current study investigates the relationship between risky traffic behaviors and traffic sign comprehension (TSC). It is hypothesized that, as traffic sign comprehension increases, unsafe traffic behaviors decrease. The data were collected online through Qualtrics from 275 participants, 177 of whom were drivers. The questionnaire package included 25 open-ended traffic sign questions, Pedestrian Behavior Scale, Mini-Driver Behavior Questionnaire with 3 additional aggressive violation items, and a demographic information form. The results indicated that TSC was significantly related to reported driver errors and lapses after controlling for age and gender. In addition, pedestrian-related TSC was significantly related to reported pedestrian transgressions, lapses, aggressive behaviors, and positive behaviors after controlling for age, gender, driver's license, and driving experience. Generally, the results were consistent with the expectations: the better that road users (drivers and pedestrians) understand traffic signs, the fewer drivers and pedestrians reported unsafe behaviors (errors and lapses for drivers; transgressions, aggressive behaviors, and lapses for pedestrians), and the more pedestrians reported positive behaviors. This finding can be explained by the fact that as the need of people to understand traffic signs increases, they avoid behaviors that will lead to accidents in traffic. For this reason, it can be predicted that comprehensively introducing children to traffic signs from an early age will contribute positively to road safety.

Assessment of Traffic Sign Comprehension Levels among Drivers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE

Road traffic signs are part of the road infrastructure components meant to ensure the safe use of roads by motorists and pedestrians alike. A good knowledge and comprehension of road signs helps ensure smooth flow of traffic, improves safety for other motorists and provides drivers with good reaction time to comply with the message dictated by the signs. Abu Dhabi, being the capital of the UAE, brings together people from all over the world for work, business or tourism. Abu Dhabi has quality roads and traffic signage together with an efficient police force that enforces adherence to traffic rules. Despite all these and the reduced fatalities in absolute terms, traffic violations have been increasing exponentially, resulting in five million traffic fines in 2019 for a population of about 2.9 million inhabitants. This study sought to assess motorists’ comprehension of the various traffic signs used across the UAE. The results of the survey (N = 200) revealed that the drivers were able to correctly identify 77% of the road signs in the survey. It was also found that the respondents failed to correctly identify traffic signs within the specific category referred to as “advance warning signs”. Respondents’ education, nationality, gender, and marital status did not have any statistically significant effects on the results compared to earlier studies. It is recommended that more attention be focused on driver education and training.

The role of drivers’ schemes on traffic signs comprehension

Current road signs confront a fundamental issue: are signs displayed in different devices (posted, on-board, painted or electronic) making the most of the same design rationale? Convergent design principles help drivers enjoy an easier coding, learning and retrieval of the schemes enhancing comprehension. This paper focuses on posted road signs (painted vs electronic) that locate events and how well they complement each other. Fixed signage must be the starting point (the scheme formed) to investigate how electronic devices (the new information) can functionally locate variable events or situations.The paper presents preliminary data regarding a sample of 39 participants. The experimental task consisted of 27 blocks of traffic signs. Electronic-adapted traffic signs were shown to all participants; however, only one group was exposed also to fixed (painted) signs. A 3x2 mixed design was used (experimental condition as inter-group factor and event location as intra-group factor), and in addition, the design also included a working memory measure as a covariate. Comprehension rates were high in all formulas of event location. As previous studies, time response showed higher means when the variable event is located ‘between’ two referents. Moreover, ‘working memory (WM) span’ showed a marginal significance with time response. This result leads to an interesting question about the consideration of influence of individual differences in WM capacity when designing complex traffic messages. Overall, results highlight the importance of understanding how complex traffic messages are encoded, processed and de-encoded, and the limits human WM may pose.

Evaluation of road traffic signs, markings and traffic rules compliance among drivers’ in Ghana

BackgroundTraffic signs and markings communicate vital information to drivers and pedestrians to follow traffic rules. However, traffic signs and markings are not always clear to drivers. ObjectivesThis study evaluates the familiarity, and comprehension of traffic signs and markings among drivers and further establish the relationship between driver background factors and traffic signs comprehensibility. It also examines the impact of familiarity and comprehension of traffic signs and markings on traffic rules compliance. MethodData was collected through the use of a survey, interview, and observation. A set of test-of-knowledge questions on eight regulatory signs, seven warning signs, five prohibitory (mandatory), and three road makings symbols, generally used on a Ghanaian road were presented to 1,205 drivers. The frequency, cross-tabulation, correlation, and hierarchical regression were used to analyse the data. ResultsThe percentage of drivers who correctly recognised the traffic signs was higher than the percentage of drivers who correctly comprehend the meaning of the signs. Largely, there were significant differences among signs/markings in drivers’ familiarity and comprehension. The results of the regression analysis show that comprehensibility positively impacts on traffic rules compliance, whereas familiarity negatively affects traffic rule compliance. ConclusionThe familiarity and comprehension vary widely among different traffic signs and markings, however, comprehension is a major factor for driver compliance to traffic rules. As a remedial measure, education should be offered to optimize driver's knowledge of traffic signs and markings that were poorly recognised and comprehended. Besides, DVLA should conduct a vigorous test on traffic signs and markings meaning when issuing a driving license, relicensing and renewing the license for drivers in Ghana.

Measuring and examining traffic sign comprehension with event-related potentials

Accurate understanding of traffic signs is integral to driving safety. Questionnaires and behavior tests are usually used to measure sign comprehension. However, biometric indicators have also been developed to measure sign comprehension. This study investigated neural indicators underlying traffic sign understanding by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs). A stimulus 1–stimulus 2 paradigm was adopted. A sign identification experiment was conducted independently in a laboratory setting with 60 participants divided into two groups. ERPs and brain topographies were analyzed to evaluate traffic sign comprehension. Misunderstanding was associated with greater amplitudes of the N300 and N400. The study demonstrates that the N300 and N400 are effective neural indicators for evaluating sign comprehension and can be used for predicting drivers’ sign comprehension and behavior.

Traffic signs comprehension study

Current research work investigates road user’s comprehension of different traffic control devices. Sample demographics were taken into consideration such as age, gender, and educational background. Twenty regulatory and warning signs were examined in this study. These signs vary from simple ‘No parking’ sign to more tricky ones such as ‘Divided highway’ sign. In addition, the questionnaire includes other questions related to road safety, condition of roads signs, and feeling of safety as a driver and as a pedestrian. These signs were selected based on their popularity among other road signs. The selected sample was over 100 people from different regions in Iraq (mainly southern provinces and the capital Baghdad). Only 16 % of selected sample answered with yes when asked about feeling safe as a driver, whereas 29% feels safe as a pedestrian. None of the respondents got all the 20 signs meaning correct, and the highest percent of correct sign meaning was associated with pedestrian crossing sign (98.2%). On the other hand, flagger man sign (work zone sign) had the lowest correct score of (19.8%). Overall Average of correct signs meaning was (68.5%). Approximately, 25% of traffic signs have scored less than 50%, and 75% of traffic signs scored more than 50% correctness score. A great work needs to be done to educate and spread adequate material that explains uses and meanings of different road signs.

Age effects on traffic sign comprehension

Ageing is associated with changes in cognitive functions that affect fitness to drive. However, little is known about age effects on traffic sign comprehension (TSC).In this study, we assessed 37 older and 29 younger healthy drivers with a standardised traffic sign test and a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery.Older drivers showed lower TSC speed and tended to interpret more recent traffic signs less accurately than younger drivers. Higher cognitive functioning was generally associated with better TSC performances in both groups. In older drivers, TSC speed was related to specific cognitive functions such as cognitive flexibility and inhibition.Our findings suggest that traffic signs should appear in time to meet age-related constraints in TSC processing speed and should put low demands on inhibitory skills and cognitive flexibility. However, our findings also suggest that cognitive abilities are important for TSC regardless of age. In addition, a periodic update of traffic sign knowledge appears to be necessary.

Expert evaluation of traffic signs: conventional vs. alternative designs

Traffic sign comprehension is significantly affected by their compliance with ergonomics design principles. Despite the UN Convention, designs vary among countries. The goal of this study was to establish theoretical and methodological bases for evaluating the design of conventional and alternative signs. Thirty-one conventional signs and 1–3 alternatives for each conventional sign were evaluated for their compliance with three ergonomics guidelines for sign design: physical and conceptual compatibility, familiarity and standardisation. Twenty-seven human factors and ergonomics experts from 10 countries evaluated the signs relative to their compliance with the guidelines. Analysis of variance across alternatives revealed that for 19 of the 31 signs, an alternative design received a significantly higher rating in its ergonomics design than the conventional sign with the same meaning. We also found a very high correlation between the experts’ ratings and comprehension from previous studies. In conclusion, many countries use signs for which better alternative designs exist, and therefore UN Convention signs should be re-examined, and ergonomics experts evaluation can serve as a good surrogate for road users’ comprehension surveys.Practitioner summary: This study presents theoretical and methodological bases for evaluating the design of UN Conventional and alternative traffic signs. Human factors and ergonomics experts evaluated 31 conventional and 68 alternative road signs, based on ergonomics principles for sign design. Results indicated the need to re-examine poorly designed UN Convention signs.

Investigation of the Contributory Factors to the Guessability of Traffic Signs.

Traffic signs play an important role in traffic management systems. A variety of studies have focused on drivers’ comprehension of traffic signs. However, the travel safety of prospective users, which has been rarely mentioned in previous studies, has attracted considerable attention from relevant departments in China. With the growth of international and interregional travel demand, traffic signs should be designed more universally to reduce the potential risks to drivers. To identify key factors that improve prospective users’ sign comprehension, this study investigated eight factors that may affect users’ performance regarding sign guessing. Two hundred and one Chinese students, all of whom intended to be drivers and none of whom had experience with daily driving after obtaining a license or visits to Germany, guessed the meanings and rated the sign features of 54 signs. We investigated the effects of selected user factors on their sign guessing performance. Additionally, the contributions of four cognitive design features to the guessability of traffic signs were examined. Based on an analysis of the relationships between the cognitive features and the guessability score of signs, the contributions of four sign features to the guessability of traffic signs were examined. Moreover, by exploring Chinese users’ differences in guessing performance between Chinese signs and German signs, cultural issues in sign design were identified. The results showed that vehicle ownership and attention to traffic signs exerted a significant influence on guessing performance. As expected, driver’s license training and the number of years in college were dominant factors for guessing performance. With regard to design features, semantic distance and confidence in guessing were two dominant factors for the guessability of signs. We suggest improving the design of signs by including vivid, universal symbols. Thus, we provide several suggestions for designing more user-friendly signs.

Investigating the role of socio-economic factors in comprehension of traffic signs using decision tree algorithm

IntroductionDrivers' ability to comprehend the meaning of traffic signs is essential to safe driving. Drivers' personal characteristics are believed to play a crucial role in determining drivers' comprehension of traffic signs. MethodThis study investigates the role of age, gender, marital status, license category, educational level, driving experience, monthly income, and number of traffic violation during the last five years in drivers' comprehension of 39 posted traffic signs in the city of Irbid, Jordan. These signs include 15 regulatory signs, 17 warning signs, and 7 guidance signs. A total of 400 paper-based surveys were completed by drivers with different socio-economic characteristics. Subsequently, a decision tree was created for each category of traffic signs to identify the most influential factors affecting drivers' comprehension. Each tree was created twice; once using the whole data set for building and validating the tree, and a second time only using 80% of the data for building and 20% for validating. ResultsThe accuracy of the generated trees in predicting drivers' comprehension of regulatory, guidance, and warning traffic signs was 70%, 71%, and 66.5%, respectively, when using the whole data for building and validating the tree, and was 65%, 62.5%, and 61.3%, respectively, when using only 80% of the data for building and the remaining for validating. ConclusionsThe generated decision trees showed that driving experience, marital status, age, and education background are the most influential factors in determining drivers' comprehension of traffic signs as they were primary splitters in such trees. Practical applicationThe rules obtained from the decision tree can be utilized by transportation agencies to determine the drivers who need help with understanding the road traffic signs.

Traffic sign perception among Jordanian drivers: An evaluation study

Highway traffic control signs are commonly used to regulate, warn, and guide road users. It is widely believed that traffic signs comprehension has a tremendous effect on traffic safety. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between drivers’ personal characteristics and their familiarity/comprehensibility with a thirty nine posted traffic signs. To this end, 400 surveys were distributed among Jordanian drivers. The results showed that the familiarity level of traffic signs is higher than comprehensibility level. On average 79%, 77%, and 83% of the drivers were familiar with regulatory, warning, and guidance traffic signs, respectively. On the other hand, only 61%, 66%, and 75% of the drivers comprehended regulatory, warning, and guidance traffic signs, respectively. “Narrow Bridge”, “Divided Roadway a Head”, “Dead End” and “Highway” received the lowest comprehensibility scores among drivers. Participants with commercial driving license had higher familiarity and comprehensibility levels than those with regular license. Drivers with a driving experience more than 11years show more familiarity and comprehensibility for traffic signs than those with less than 2 years driving experience. The number of traffic violations did not have a significant effect on traffic signs familiarity and comprehensibility.

Road Safety Awareness and Comprehension of Road Signs from International Tourist’s Perspectives: A Case Study of Thailand

Under foreign environment, tourists could drive in unfamiliar surroundings, misunderstand and misinterpret traffic signs, or even violate local traffic laws. This study attempts to explore tourist’s perceptions and awareness regarding road safety and investigate underlying factors that could affect tourist’s comprehension of local road signs. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 1,091 international tourists visiting Thailand. Results indicate that the level of perceptions and awareness regarding road safety were found to be different among tourists with different origins. In addition, respondents could only comprehend road signs to some extent, e.g. text traffic signs such as stop sign and yield sign seemed to be difficult to understand from tourist’s perspectives. Statistical modeling results reveal a set of significant factors affecting the level of traffic sign comprehension. Significant socio-economic variables consist of respondent’s age, driver’s license ownership, respondent’s driving experience in foreign countries, and respondent’s nationality. On the other hand, the significant travel characteristic variables are trip duration, trip objective, mode of transportation, and frequency of visit. Findings would help highway and traffic authorities in better understanding tourist’s travel behavior and contribute to road safety design standards serving both local and foreign users.

The effect of context and drivers’ age on highway traffic signs comprehension

Background: Comprehension of traffic signs is crucial to safety. Objectives: To test the effects of the presentation condition (with or without driving context) on symbolic based road signs comprehension and comprehension time for young and older drivers. Method: 50 young drivers and 50 older drivers were presented with images of 28 Israeli road signs, both without context (with a white background) and in context (with the driving surrounding). Data were collected on the accuracy of signs meaning and on the time it took the participants to provide the meaning. Results: Younger drivers performed significantly better than older drivers on both accuracy and response time (RT). Older drivers’ average RT was approximately twice as long as younger drivers’ RT. However, the presentation mode (with or without context) did not affect sign comprehension of either group, but the presence of the context did increase the time it took the drivers to comprehend the sign’s meaning. In addition, correct response time was similar to opposite to sign’s meaning response time. Implications: Older drivers, can benefit from retraining in sign comprehension of current signage. The training should involve signs in their natural road environment to reduce comprehension time while actually driving. Moreover, signs that were understood as having an opposite meaning should be redesigned or be accompanied by text.

Comprehension of traffic signs with symbolic versus text displays

ObjectiveTo evaluate the benefits of text and symbolic displays in highway signs relative to their familiarity on their comprehension speed and accuracy. BackgroundA recent study that evaluated the influence of ergonomic principles – familiarity, standardization, and symbol-concept compatibility – on traffic sign comprehension showed that comprehension is highly correlated with the compliance with these ergonomic design principles (Ben-Bassat & Shinar, 2006). As an alternative to existing unfamiliar symbolic signs we tested the effect of adding text. MethodDrivers were presented with 30 traffic signs varying in their level of familiarity in three display conditions: standard symbol-only, text-only, and symbol+text. Speed and accuracy of comprehension were recorded. ResultsDisplay condition and familiarity significantly affected both correctness of the answers and reaction time. Correctness improved when the symbol was shown with text, especially when the sign was less familiar. ConclusionsAdding text improves the comprehension and reduces the time it takes to comprehend the sign, especially of unfamiliar signs. ApplicationAdding text could be a simple solution to making (unfamiliar) signs more understandable to a greater segment of the driving population without compromising comprehension time, thereby increasing traffic safety.