Driver behavior in use of guide and logo signs under distraction and complex roadway conditions

Kaber, David B.; Pankok, Carl; Corbett, Brendan; Ma, Wenqi; Hummer, Joseph E.; Rasdorf, William

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2014.09.005

Cited by 35 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Moreover, they found that in general advertisement-related distraction appeared to be minor. Research shows that this may even be the case when the advertisements are placed on, or immediately below, direction signs (Kaber et al, 2015;Metz & Krüger, 2014;. Pankok and colleagues (2015) and Kaber and colleagues (2015) studied the effects of commercial logo signs on motorways under various conditions of complexity.…”

Section: Traffic Safety: Avoiding Distraction By Advertisementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Don’t shoot the messenger: Traffic-irrelevant messages on variable message signs (VMSs) might not interfere with traffic management

Harms

Dijksterhuis

Jelijs

et al. 2019

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviou

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Road authorities struggle with the question whether variable message signs (VMSs) should exclusively be used for traffic management or could also be used to display traffic-irrelevant messages, such as mottos or commercial advertisements. The current study assesses behavioural responses to a critical route instruction displayed on the same VMS that previously displayed a variety of traffic-irrelevant messages. For this, thirty-two participants were divided between a control group and an experimental group (the advertisements group). In a driving simulator, all were familiarised with the same route by driving a VMS-equipped motorway nine times. For the advertisements group, up to drive 8, this VMS displayed various advertisements. Whereas for the control group it was blank. In the 9 th drive, the VMS displayed a critical detour message for all participants. This critical route instructioninforming drivers to take the nearest exitresulted in compliant driver behaviour in the advertisements group. In addition, they only reduced speed marginally to increase the time to process the VMS text. The control group, on the contrary, displayed a much sharper speed reduction; though the instruction only moderately altered motorway exit behaviour. What is more, the 31% (n = 4) of the advertisements group who complied with the critical route instruction subsequently failed to recall this message (recalling an advertisement instead). In conclusion, this study provides evidence that displaying traffic-irrelevant messages on VMSs might not interfere with traffic management; provided the format of said messages is in accordance with ergonomic VMS guidelines as used in this study. It is proposed that due to repeated exposure to various VMS texts, reading the sign has been practised to the extent that little to no conscious deliberation was required. As a result, recall of what was seen, proved to be an inadequate proxy for assessing driver behaviour. This study shows that conscious attention might not be a prerequisite for compliance. Furthermore, it suggests that continuous variability in objects in the traffic environment may become part of a subconscious monitoring process, as long as they have been sufficiently practised.

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Section: Traffic Safety: Avoiding Distraction By Advertisementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Don’t shoot the messenger: Traffic-irrelevant messages on variable message signs (VMSs) might not interfere with traffic management

Harms

Dijksterhuis

Jelijs

et al. 2019

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviou

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Roadside ads are thus a risk factor (Bendak and Al-saleh 2010). Although the drivers' visual field is filled with various signs and signals aimed to focus their attention (Kaber et al 2015), studies using car simulators, and often eyetracking methods, show that ads are more distracting than other visual stimuli, for example road signs (Kaber et al 2015).…”

Section: How a Driver Obtains Relevant Information In A Traffic Situamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It turned out that the signs containing a symbol and concise text improved the understanding of the sign best (Shinar and Vogelzang 2013). Kaber et al (2015) tested the influence of the type of signs on the behavior of drivers in simulator driving conditions, using various types of white-on-blue logo signs. Conclusions for driver performance and attention allocation were drawn based on the difference found between reactions on types of signs.…”

Section: The Role Of Amount Of Information In Road Hazardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are longer advertising slogans more dangerous? The influence of the length of ad slogans on drivers’ attention and motor behavior

et al. 2018

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The purpose of this project was to verify whether slogans displayed on roadside advertisements created a distraction for drivers. In order to explain the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, Study 1 examined the impact of slogan length on attentional processing efficiency. Study 2 investigated the relationship between the length of the slogan and the motor behavior of respondents driving a car simulator. We assumed that slogan length would decrease the drivers' task performance in both studies. Study 1 was conducted on a group of 70 participants, who completed a modified version of the Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan et al. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(3), 340-347, 2002). The task consisted of visual ads intended to distract respondents from the primary task. Reaction times were significantly longer when ads had longer slogans compared to shorter slogans. Study 2, involving a car simulator, was conducted on a group of 53 drivers performing a task of driving in a convoy. Participants were shown billboards with ads at the roadside in random order (two pairs of corresponding ads with short and long text on it). Participants' driving performance decreased when longer slogans were presented in comparison to the short-slogan condition. In conclusion, we interpret the results of Study 1 to indicate that longer slogan leads to a greater load of attentional processing. This subsequently leads to a reduction of the processing efficiency within attentional systems and further increases the amount of time to resist the irrelevant stimulus. A consequence of this, as shown in Study 2 using a car simulator, is a decrease in cognitive resources necessary for safe driving and therefore worse performance on a driving task.

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“…Simulator studies accompanied by eye tracking methods prove that advertisements (i.e. information signs with service points' logotypes) are more distracting than traffic signs [10]. Additionally, their distractive value increases with the complexity of the sign (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social attitudes towards roadside advertising

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Public opinion is not always consistent with expert opinion. A nationwide CAWI research project was conducted in order to verify Polish drivers' opinion on roadside advertising and their experience concerning distraction and loss of situational awareness. Research results show that although many drivers have experienced partial loss of situational awareness, most of them are not convinced of the need to restrict roadside advertising. Nonetheless, on the basis of the results, we can identify the most distracting characteristics of roadside advertising as well as socially acceptable rule changes.

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Driver behavior in use of guide and logo signs under distraction and complex roadway conditions

Cited by 35 publications

References 9 publications

Don’t shoot the messenger: Traffic-irrelevant messages on variable message signs (VMSs) might not interfere with traffic management

Don’t shoot the messenger: Traffic-irrelevant messages on variable message signs (VMSs) might not interfere with traffic management

Are longer advertising slogans more dangerous? The influence of the length of ad slogans on drivers’ attention and motor behavior

Social attitudes towards roadside advertising

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