Toll Facility Safety Study Report to Congress - About

Toll Facility Safety Study Report to Congress
signs – many agencies feel that it is better to lose the toll (or pursue the toll through
automated enforcement) than to have a vehicle stop in high speed lanes.
Adding signs to educate drivers about safe behavior with messages such as DO NOT
STOP or DO NOT BACK UP – STAY IN VEHICLE (as shown in Figure 4-29).
Using public address systems to communicate with drivers at unmanned booths so
that staff can instruct motorists to stay in their vehicle and to keep moving. It should
be noted that there is some debate as to the usefulness of this approach owing to noise
and the impracticality of constantly monitoring the travel lanes for such situations.
4.4.2 Mitigating Sensory Overload
The final significant source of driver confusion identified in the site visits was simply sensory
overload, or the challenge of reading, recognizing, and appropriately acting upon the multitude
of messages and signs presented to a driver approaching a plaza. Among the solutions sites have
explored to combat this issue are:
Minimizing the number of signs.
Moving toward the use of symbols (such as “$”) in lieu of, or in addition to, words
(such as “cash only”) as shown in Figure 4-30.
Moving toward simplification of
messages on signs.
Placing signs at eye level (as opposed
to overhead or in-pavement).
Using focus groups to test different
sign configurations and messages.
Banning advertising in the vicinity of
plazas.
Figure 4-30. One Option for Conveying
that Cash is Accepted in All Lanes
4.4.3 Mitigating Driver Inattention
In addition to the various sources of confusion inherent in the design, layout, and operations of
plaza facilities, drivers also introduce their own activities that contribute to inattention and
distraction. While not unique to toll plazas, many customers engage in cell phone conversations,
read maps, and undertake a variety of activities that have been demonstrated to cause driver
distraction and crashes on all roadway facilities, not just toll plazas. In addition, a subset of
drivers, colloquially referred to as “wavers,” undertake a form of distraction that is unique to
plaza facilities. These individuals fail to properly mount their ETC tags and instead hold them
up to the windshield, out the window, etc., with little regard to traffic conditions around them.
While there is not much that can be done to mitigate against the actions of these individuals,
agencies have pursued strategies such as public education campaigns, providing warnings against
the practice in billing mail-outs, and instructing toll collectors to look for and discourage the
practice if possible.
Findings – Factors Affecting Safety at Toll Plazas Page 38