The evaluation of steady burn warning lights comparing a field experiment, simulator experiment, and repeated-use experiment

Research was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of steady burn warning lights on drums with high-intensity sheeting in the work during nighttime hours in terms of work delineation and safety. The research was conducted through a field study and a simulator study. The field study included 14 sites and the simulator study utilized 127 subjects. The measures of performance included crash frequency, mean speed lateral lane placement and location of lane change. Spot speeds were observed at three locations in the work zone. The location of the speed studies were at the beginning of the work zone near the transition area, in the middle of the work zone and at the end of the work zone near the downstream taper. The driving simulator was also utilized to determine the impact of a repeated-use simulator experiment on driver performance. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine if the differences in the measures of effectiveness were statistically significant between sites utilizing drums without steady burn warning lights and sites utilizing drums with steady burn warning lights. In addition, statistical analyses were conducted to determine if the participants of the study performed differently in the simulator, as compared to the field. Research results established that there were no significant difference in traffic operational and safety performance between the drums with and without steady burn warning lights. The findings of this research also indicated partial validity of the use of a driving simulator for human factors research for nighttime driving conditions. The statistical analysis for the repeated-use experiment found that participants exhibited improved speed performance between the first and the second trial; however, continued performance was not evident between the second and fifth trials nor for the other measures of performance of crash frequency, lateral placement or location of lane change. Based upon the findings of the research, it is believe that mean speeds can be used to examine the impacts of various traffic control devices. However, caution should be exercised when attempting to determine the impact during nighttime driving conditions in work zones.