Date of Award

4-2012

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Ron Van Houten

Keywords

Behavior modification, Traffic safety, pedestrian crosswalks, automobile drivers, pavement markings, 3-D illusions

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Pedestrian safety remains a serious concern at busy non-signaled intersections in large metropolitan cities across the nation, because many drivers fail to stop or yield to pedestrians at marked crosswalks. Past evaluated devices either have obtained marginal effects during evaluation or are limited in availability, such as the High Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) beacon and the Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacon (RRFB), due to installation and maintenance costs. 3D pavement illusions have been previously studied in transportation application; however no formal evaluations have examined the effectiveness of 3D pavement illusions on motorist yielding behavior. A multiple baseline study was conducted across two uncontrolled crosswalks sites. Following a baseline condition, an in pavement "Look for Pedestrians" message marking was placed in advance of the crosswalk. Next, 3D pavement illusions were added to the pavement marking message. The pavement marking message increased yielding behavior and the initial installation of the 3D illusions were effective at increasing yielding further, however over time the novelty of the 3D pavement illusions reduced motorist yielding back to the previous pavement message only condition.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS