Citation

Vilchez JL. Traffic Injury Prev. 2017; 18(5): 544-549.

Affiliation

Department for Management of Science and Technology Development. Faculty of Applied Sciences , Ton Duc Thang University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15389588.2016.1255330

PMID

27808553

Abstract

OBJECTIVE The effect of traffic signs in the motor behavior of drivers is not completely understood yet. Knowing about how humans process the meaning of signs (not just by learning but instinctively) will improve reaction time and decision making when traveling. The economic, social and psychological consequences of car accidents are well-known. Every single effort orientated to the solution of this social problem is welcome.

METHODS This study sounds out which traffic signs are more ergonomic for participants, from a cognitive point of view, and determines, at the same time, which is their effect in participants' movement trajectory in a driving-simulation task: the tracking task.

RESULTS Results point out that the signs least representative of their meaning produce a greater deviation from the center of the road than the most representative ones.

CONCLUSIONS This study encourages both an in-depth analysis of the effect on movement of every roadside signs and the study of how this effect can be modified by the context in which these signs are presented (with the aim to move the research closer to and analyze the data in real contexts. The goal is to achieve the clarity of the meaning and lack of counterproductive effects on the trajectory of representative signs (the ones that even provoked fewer mistakes in the decision task). It is a matter of not taking any unnecessary risk while driving.

Language: en