10.6084/m9.figshare.7793948.v1 Hammad Hussain Awan Hammad Hussain Awan Ali Pirdavani Ali Pirdavani Arne Houben Arne Houben Sander Westhof Sander Westhof Muhammad Adnan Muhammad Adnan Tom Brijs Tom Brijs Impact of perceptual countermeasures on driving behavior at curves using driving simulator Taylor & Francis Group 2019 Driving simulator driving behavior herringbone pattern horizontal curves optical circles road marking 2019-03-01 20:10:24 Journal contribution https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Impact_of_perceptual_countermeasures_on_driving_behavior_at_curves_using_driving_simulator/7793948 <p><b>Objective:</b> The probability of crash occurrence on horizontal curves is 1.5 to 4 times higher than that on tangent sections. A majority of these crashes are associated with human errors. Therefore, human behavior in curves needs to be corrected.</p> <p><b>Methodology:</b> In this study, 2 different road marking treatments, optical circles and herringbone patterns, were used to influence driver behavior while entering a curve on a 2-lane rural road section. A driving simulator was used to perform the experiment. The simulated road sections are replicas of 2 real road sections in Flanders.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Both treatments were found to reduce speed before entering the curve. However, speed reduction was more gradual when optical circles were used. A herringbone pattern had more influence on lateral position than optical circles by forcing drivers to maintain a safe distance from opposing traffic in the adjacent lane.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> The study concluded that among other low-cost speed reduction methods, optical circles are effective tools to reduce speed and increase drivers’ attention. Moreover, a herringbone pattern can be used to reduce crashes on curves, mainly for head-on crashes where the main problem is inappropriate lateral position.</p>