Optical illusion slows drivers
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Patterns laid on the surface of a highspeed, dual-carriageway road at the approach to a roundabout have induced drivers to decrease their speeds by up to 19 per cent. This is revealed in the analysis of the results of an experiment started last June by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory at the Clock Roundabout on the Stevenage by-pass, Al (M).
In the experiment a grid of transverse yellow lines was laid on 400yd of the southbound carriageway before the roundabout. The speed of traffic was recorded at a point between the end of the pattern and the roundabout.
The results of this experiment have shown the Laboratory that a driver's sense of speed can be heightened by illusion, and further experiments are planned to take place at various times during the next 12 months at seven other roundabouts and interchanges.