Colón-Torres, Enid

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    Analysis of driver’s performance on a school zone using a driving simulator and an eye tracker
    (2019-07-03) Colón-Torres, Enid; Valdés-Díaz, Didier M.; College of Engineering; Figueroa Medina, Alberto; Dávila Padilla, Saylisse; Department of Civil Engineering; Cabreara Ríos, Mauricio
    Road safety and speed limit compliance in school zones are critical problems in the United States (US), Puerto Rico, and other places around the world. Research has shown that drivers do not comply with speed limits around school zones. This thesis presents the evaluation of a new combination of signage and pavement markings developed to improve drivers’ compliance with school zone speed limits. The methodology included an online survey of road users, an experiment with the driving simulator of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, and an eye-tracking device to study scenarios that evaluate the proposed and current traffic control devices. The survey results indicated that 52% of the subjects did not identify correctly the signs and 48% did not identify correctly speed limits related to school zones. Based on the survey results, a combination of overhead signage and pavements markings was selected to study its potential impact using a set of driving simulation experiments with the conditions present at a school zone located on highway PR-2 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Twelve scenarios were evaluated. A linear mixed model (LMM) was fitted to understand the factors that affect each response variable speed and acceleration noise. Nevertheless, it must be noted that the most relevant factor in the LMMs for mean speed is the variability between drivers, which explains 89% in the variability of the response variable. The proposed configuration of traffic control devices provided reductions in mean speeds and acceleration noise while increasing compliance with the speed limit. These reductions in speed and acceleration noise can be associated with improved operations and safer conditions at school zones.