Evaluation of publicly recruited countermeasures against wrong-way driving on expressways

Abstract

Wrong-way driving on expressways could cause serious accidents. Expressway companies have implemented various wrong-way driving countermeasures that were publicly recruited in addition to conventional ones such as no-entry signs, arrow markings, and other warning signs. However, the evaluation of these measures has not been conducted yet. This study evaluated these countermeasures in a VR experiment, using videos that reproduce the scenes of wrong-way driving on expressways. Sixty subjects were asked to watch the videos and press a button whenever they felt the driving was dangerous. For each video, they were asked "Why did you feel dangerous?" to know whether they were aware of the wrong-way driving. The study analyzed (1) the ratio of subjects who noticed the wrong-way driving; and (2) the timing that they noticed wrong-way driving for each countermeasure. As a result, both of the conventional and publicly recruited countermeasures were effective in preventing wrong-way driving, and care should be taken to implement the publicly recruited countermeasures together with conventional ones.