SOBER LAYOUT OF A RURAL DISTRIBUTOR ROAD: EFFECTS ON DRIVING BEHAVIOUR

This report is one of the partial studies within the framework of the long-term research programme 'Sustainably-safe road surroundings and traffic behaviour'. This study investigated whether, and in which way, an 'extra sober' variant of carriageway separation affects driving behaviour. To do this, double broken axis lines and broken edge markings were introduced along a section of the provincial N375 road between Pesse and Meppel in (the province of) Drenthe. For this study, data about a number of behaviour aspects of road users was gathered, before as well as after the changes. The control section was another section of the N375. The lines along the experimental section before the changes, as well as those along the control section, consisted of a single broken axis line and continuous edge markings. Data was gathered to investigate whether the intended and/or unintended effects occurred, using video observations. The following behaviour was observed: the average speed, the speed distribution around this average, the number of exceeders of the 80 km/h speed limit on the N375, their position on the road, the number of overtaking manoeuvres, and the average headway times. The extra sober sustainably-safe design only had a clearly positive effect on the number of overtaking manoeuvres. This report may be accessed by Internet users at: http://www.swov.nl/rapport/ R-2003-21.pdf