Citation

Wigglesworth EC. J. Saf. Res. 1978; 10(3): 100-107.

Affiliation

Wigglesworth, E. C.: Royal Australasian Coll of Surgeons, Injury Research Project, Melbourne, Australia

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The behavior of road traffic was studied at an open railway crossing, i.e., a crossing protected by a static array of signs and with no automatic device warning of an approaching train. Drivers' head movements and mean approach speeds were obtained in order to assess the effects of local knowledge and site restrictions on behavior. The crossings studied had a major visibility restriction for westbound traffic and trains on only three days a week. It was found that means speeds at the cross bucks for cars and car derivatives were essentially similar on days with trains compared with days without trains. The mean reduction in approach speed of westbound traffic, however, was significantly greater than that for eastbound traffic on all days. This was not true of commercial vehicles which traveled somewhat more slowly eastbound because of a slight grade in the road. About one third of drivers looked left and right to see if a train was coming, one third looked only to the right, and the remaining one third did not look at all. This pattern was observed in eastbound and westbound traffic. Westbound drivers who looked left and right had significantly lower speeds at the crossing. Local knowledge of train movements did not materially influence behavior at this crossing.