The effect of milled rumble strips versus virtual rumble strips on sleepy drivers : a driving simulator study

The aim of the EU project IN-SAFETY is to create effective combinations of traditional infrastructure measures combined with new technology to increase the self-explanatory and forgiving nature of the road traffic system. This report describes the method, results and conclusions of a driving simulator experiment with the aim to evaluate the effect of two scenarios of importance selected on a theoretical framework within IN-SAFETY: lane departure warning in terms of milled rumble strips or as a driver support system, and the effect of an in-vehicle warning system informing there is a school bus ahead, simulating a system based on vehicle to vehicle information. Concerning the "lane departure warning", the experiment considered possibilities and consequences of replacing the infrastructure element milled rumble strips with a haptic in-vehicle system. Both centre and side line rumble strips on a two-lane highway were studied and compared with a baseline. In-vehicle "School bus ahead warning" was considered as an example of in-vehicle information used to inform the driver of upcoming events. Both rumble strips and school bus warning was studied for drivers after not having slept the night before driving as well as after a night's sleep in order to investigate consequences of driver state on system effectiveness. The results showed that there is a potential to substitute the infrastructure measure rumble strips with an in-vehicle assistance system. Moreover, in-vehicle information was found to be an effective way of reducing the subjects' speeds during temporary critical situations concerning traffic safety.