An observational study of driver behavior at a protected railroad grade crossing as trains approach

Is it safe to cross? Identification of trains and their approach speed at level crossings

“…These on-road and simulated driving studies have found that shorter time of arrival at a junction, smaller gap distance, and faster oncoming traffic speeds reduce the likelihood of a gap being judged to be acceptable and the driver not performing the manoeuvre (e.g., Beanland et al, 2013;Bottom and Ashworth, 1978;Hunt et al, 2011). Similar results are reported by studies at rail level crossings where the perceived time of arrival of the train, the distance, and/or the train speed are associated positively with traversing a rail level crossing (e.g., Meeker and Barr, 1989;Meeker et al, 1997;Tey et al, 2011). However, little research has examined gap acceptance in terms of when drivers perceive it safe (or unsafe) to cross a rail level crossing when a train is approaching.…”

“…Observational studies of actual rail level crossings report that 57-77% of drivers will cross (the rail crossing) in the presence of an approaching train (Kasalica et al, 2012;Tey et al, 2011). Additionally, observational studies identify that the majority of drivers slow down and perform visual scanning behaviours as they approach the rail tracks, prior to crossing (Kasalica et al, 2012;Meeker and Barr, 1989). The obvious checking for the behaviour of trains exhibited by drivers supports the suggestion that perceptual errors rather than deliberate violations underlie many train and road user crashes.…”

Exploring the Effects of Signs’ Design and In-Vehicle Audio Warning on Driver Behavior at Flashing-Light-Controlled Grade Crossings: A Driving Simulator-Based Study

“…However, drivers may fail to comply with active grade crossing control for a variety of reasons. For flashing-lightcontrolled crossings, driver errors and violations have been frequently observed due to the absence of physical obstructions [10]. However, little attention has been paid to such kind of grade crossings.…”

“…When developing effective FLCGCs, a thorough understanding of drivers' crossing behavior is of great importance. Due to the overestimated remaining time and misunderstanding of the warning information, at least 55% of drivers still chose to cross the tracks even when the red lights were flashing [10,12]. ough without yellow signal, there is a region of roadway existing upstream of crossings at the onset of flashing light, which is similar to the "dilemma zone" of roadway intersections.…”

The methodology development of railway level crossing safety systems – South Australia case study

“…Inadequate sight distance and warning time can result in a perilous situation especially for long and heavy vehicles where most of the time the drivers have limited control. The concerns related to surrounding environment was due to visibility problems [9], weather and sun reflection caused by sunrise and sunset, time of the day especially during weekdays and rush hours [10].…”