Effectiveness of Active Luminous Lane Markings on Highway at Night: A Driving Simulation Study

Bencheng Zhu, Cancan Song, Zhongyin Guo, Yu Zhang and Zichu Zhou
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Bencheng Zhu: The Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Cancan Song: The Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Zhongyin Guo: The Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Yu Zhang: Shandong Road Region Safety and Emergency Support Laboratory, Shandong Transportation Institute, Jinan 250102, China
Zichu Zhou: The Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Road lane markings play an essential role in maintaining traffic order and improving traffic safety and efficiency. Active luminous lane markings have emerged with advances in technology recently. However, it is still not completely clear what impact their application will have on drivers. This paper aimed to study the effectiveness of active luminous lane markings on highways at night. A driving simulation experiment was carried out based on advanced driving simulators at Tongji University. The driving simulation experiment involved 31 participants and 9 simulation scenes with 6 different types of lane markings models and the same 2-way highway segment, which was 5300-m long with four 3.75-m wide driving lanes. The study participants drove through the simulated highway while the vehicle operation data and the driver’s eyes changing data were continuously captured. Overall, the pupil area change rate, steering wheel speed, brake pedal force, gas pedal, lane departure, and operating speed indicators were selected to evaluate the effectiveness of the active luminous lane markings. The results are shown as follows: (1) the active luminous lane markings have excellent visual recognition performance at night. Compared with the passive luminous lane markings, the active luminous markings can reduce the mental and physical loads of drivers, increase the early braking distance significantly, improve the lane-keeping ability and smooth the operating speed; (2) for the specific parameter settings of the active luminous lane markings at night, the yellow lane markings are better than the white ones, the point-line-type lane markings are superior to the conventional-type ones, and the blinking frequency is reasonable to set, at a moderate level, as 40 times per min. The results suggest that there are positive effects of active luminous lane markings on the promotion of highway traffic safety and efficiency at night, providing theoretical support for the popularization and application of active luminous road lane markings.

Keywords: highway; traffic safety and efficiency; lane markings; active luminous; effectiveness evaluation; driving simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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