Effects of Traffic Information on Driver's Judgment of Curve Sharpness

Abstract

The effects of information on a driver's judgment of curve sharpness were investigated by he personal computer simulation system. Three kinds of traffic sign and three kinds of voice guidance system were proposed to inform curve depth accurately. Six curve sections were picked up for sharpness assessment. Both a sign and a voice guidance pattem were superimposed on the driving scene using Adobe premiere 6.0. The 289 subjects estimated the sharpness subjectively. They saw six different curve patterns displayed on the computer screen. Also, they selected one cue among four cues as the most imporant cue for judging curve sharpness. Scatter plots of pre-judgment scores vs. post-judgment scores are used to analyze the effects of information on sharpness judgment. As a result, the adequate information indicated a positive effect on sharpness estimatin. The video scene was the largest factor for sharpness estimation. The effects of proposed traffic sign were larger than those of the voice guidance system. In addition, sharpness judgment at the left curve was more sensitive than that at the right curve. It should be noted that post-judgment score did not varied widely by pre-judgment scores. There are certain limitations to using the simple simulation system.