How does road marking in horizontal curves influence driving behaviour?

Havránek, Pavel; Zůvala, Robert; Špaňhel, Jakub; Herout, Adam; Valentová, Veronika; Ambros, Jiří · 2020 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1186/s12544-020-00425-7

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates how road markings, specifically centerlines and edgelines, influence driving behavior in horizontal curves on rural roads. The research was motivated by the inconsistent application of these markings in the Czech Republic and the high accident risk associated with sharp curves, where over one-third of road fatalities occur. The primary objective was to assess how the presence of centerlines and edgelines affects average vehicle speed and lateral position, addressing a gap in existing literature that often relied on cross-sectional comparisons rather than before-after analyses of identical sites. The researchers employed a before-after experimental design using six secondary rural road sites in the South Moravian region. These sites were selected for their critical conditions, featuring two-lane roads with pavement widths of 5–6 meters and horizontal curve radii between 100 and 200 meters. Three sites were marked with edgelines only, while the other three received centerlines only. Data collection involved installing video cameras at each site to record traffic for at least 96 hours during both the "before" (summer) and "after" (autumn) periods. Vehicle trajectories were detected and tracked using calibrated video recordings, employing license plate detection and neural networks to determine average speeds and lateral positions relative to the road edge. Statistical analysis, including Mann-Whitney U tests, was used to compare driving indicators between the two periods. The results indicated that the application of both edgelines and centerlines led to a decrease in average speeds, ranging from approximately 4 to 7 km/h. However, the impact on lateral position differed by marking type. Edgelines caused drivers in right-hand curves (inside lanes) to shift their trajectories toward the center of the road, likely due to increased awareness of the road edge. Conversely, centerlines caused drivers in both left and right curves to shift their trajectories toward the outer road edges, as drivers became more aware of staying within their lane relative to the centerline. These changes were statistically significant, though the effect of edgelines was not significant in left-hand curves. The study concludes that road markings significantly alter driving behavior in horizontal curves, reducing speeds but inducing opposite lateral shifts depending on the marking type. The authors note that while speed reduction is generally beneficial, the lateral shifts may have mixed safety implications, potentially trading off risks between head-on collisions and run-off-the-road accidents. The paper acknowledges limitations, including the small sample size of six sites and the inability to distinguish between driver or vehicle characteristics. Future research is recommended to expand the sample size and develop cross-sectional models that statistically link road geometry and marking characteristics to safety outcomes.

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Topics

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• road geometry
• perceptual countermeasures
• signage environment
• lane positioning