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INTRODUCTION Surveys of British and American motorists indicate that aggressive driving is one of the driver's greatest concerns as far as traffic safety is involved (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, […], The goal of this study was to determine if traffic signals that are synchronized along a route are associated with fewer red-light violations than traffic signals that are not synchronized. A total 5600 cycles of traffic signals at 12 intersections along 2 major urban arteries were observed. Synchronized intersections were effective in reducing the likelihood of red-light running (RLR) by (a) providing fewer opportunities than nonsynchronized intersections for RLR and (b) having a lower rate of RLR relative to the number of opportunities. After adjustment for the number of opportunities, the odds of entering the intersections in red in synchronized intersections were nearly 1/7 the odds of RLR in nonsynchronized intersections. Congestion reduced the effectiveness of synchronized intersections relative to nonsynchronized intersections. Male drivers were slightly more likely to run red lights than female drivers, and the effects of synchronization were fairly constant across age, gender, and the presence or absence of passengers. Actual or potential applications of this research involve signal synchronization to reduce aggressive driving in general and RLR in particular.

INTRODUCTION Intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) are increasingly becoming technically feasible and economically affordable (Lee, 1997; Walker, Stanton, & Young, 2001). Unlike in-vehicle safety systems such as air bags and safety […], An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of an in-vehicle collision avoidance warning system (IVCAWS) on driver performance. A driving simulator was driven by 135 licensed drivers. Of these, 120 received alerts from the IVCAWS when their headway to a lead car was less than 2 s, and the other 15 (the control group) received no alerts. Drivers received varied alert interfaces: auditory, visual, and multimodal. The system had varied levels of reliability, determined by both false alarm rate and failure of the IVCAWS to alert to short headway. Results indicated that the IVCAWS led to safer (longer) headway maintenance. High false alarm rates induced drivers to slow down unnecessarily; large numbers of missed alerts did not have any significant impact on drivers. Driver acceptance of the system was mixed. Interface played a role in driver reliance on the system, with the multimodal interfaces generating least reliance. Actual or potential applications of this research include IVCAWS interface selection for greater system efficacy and user acceptance and the advisability of implementation, even of imperfect systems, for drivers who seek to maintain a safer headway.

INTRODUCTION Technology currently allows for the development of more sophisticated automated systems in which a computer can potentially make decisions previously reserved for humans. In many tasks it will be […], Target acquisition tasks in natural environments are often augmented by cuing systems that advise human observers during the decision process. With present technological limitations, cuing systems are imperfect, so the question arises whether cuing aids should be implemented under all conditions. We examined target acquisition performance under different levels of task complexity and cuing system reliability. We introduce here two new methods to help define observer behavior trends in cued target acquisition: a quantitative measure of observer search behavior in a temporal sense and a measure of the extent of observer reliance on the cue. We found that observer reliance on the cue correlated with task difficulty and the perceived reliability of the cue. Cuing was generally helpful in complex tasks, whereas cuing reduced performance in easy tasks. Consequently, cuing systems should be implemented only when the task is difficult enough to warrant the intrusion of a cue into the task. Actual or potential applications of this research include the design and implementation of imperfect automated aids dealing with augmented reality.

INTRODUCTION The ability of people to remain alert in a continuous manner for prolonged durations is severely limited, and consequently momentary lapses in attention and delayed recognition of hazards have […], The effectiveness of a headway measuring and recording device was evaluated in terms of its ability to increase drivers' car-following distance. Forty-three drivers first drove for approximately 3 weeks without headway feedback and then for approximately 3 more weeks with immediate time headway (THW) feedback. Whenever the THW decreased to 1.2 s or less a red warning light came on, and whenever the THW decreased further to 0.8 s or less a buzzer was also sounded. The results showed that prior to receiving THW information, drivers drove at shorter headways than after they received that information. The effect of the feedback was to reduce the time spent in short headways (≤0.8 s) by approximately 25% (from 20% to 15% of the time) and to increase the time spent in safer longer headways (>1.2 s) by approximately 20% (from 57% to 65% of the time). The effect was similar for younger and older drivers, for male and female drivers, for urban and highway speeds, and for daytime and nighttime dri ving. An immediate application of these findings is to install headway feedback displays to drivers so that they may maintain safer headway distances than they do currently.

INTRODUCTION In the United States, rear-end collisions represent approximately 30% of all car crashes on public roads (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1999). Two major causes of such accidents are […], Many new in-vehicle systems focus on accident prevention by facilitating the driving task. One such driving aid is an in-vehicle collision avoidance warning system (IVCAWS), used to alert the driver to an impending collision. Our study evaluated the effects of an imperfect IVCAWS both on driver headway maintenance and on driver behavior in response to warning system errors. Our results showed that drivers tend to overestimate their headway and consequently drive with short and potentially dangerous headways, and that IVCAWSs are a useful tool for educating drivers to estimate headway more accurately. Moreover, our study showed that after a relatively short exposure to the system, drivers were able to maintain longer and safer headways for at least six months. The practical implications of these results are that the use of an IVCAWS should be considered for inclusion in driver education and training programs.