Impact of chevrons on driver behaviour in rural road curves at night-time

Abstract

Due to their characteristics, rural roads have increased risk of fatal crashes. Particularly risky locations on rural roads are horizontal curves, especially during night-time when, due to the lack of available visual information, driver’s perception-reaction time is prolonged. To emphasise the horizontal curves, road authorities use chevrons, however, the design of chevrons varies across the world. Therefore, the aim of this driving simulation study is to investigate the impact of five different chevron designs in horizontal curves on driver behaviour during dry night-time conditions. All five tested chevron designs reduced the driving speed when approaching and driving through a curve. Speed reduction was between 25 to 28 km/h, while best results were recorded for white-red and fluorescent-red chevrons.