EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS HIGHWAY SIGNS

THIS EXPERIMENT WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SYMBOLS, SHAPE OF SIGNS, AND WORDS FOR WARNING OR DIRECTING THE VEHICLE DRIVER. THE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE SUBJECT TO REACT TO A SIGN WAS USED AS THE CRITERION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SIGN. TWENTY STANDARD SIGNS, SOME WISCONSIN AND SOME PENNSYLVANIA, WERE USED IN THE LABORATORY TESTS, THE SIGNS BEING PLACED 75 FEET FROM THE SUBJECT AND THE REACTION TIME MEASURED BY A CHRONOSCOPE READING TO .001 OF A SECOND. A TOTAL OF 160 DRIVERS WERE TESTED. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WAS SECURED BY A QUESTIONNAIRE CONCERNING SHAPE, SYMBOL, COLOR AND LETTERING ON WISCONSIN SIGNS. THE TESTS INDICATED THAT A LARGE SYMBOL ON ANY SHAPE SIGN IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN ANY COMBINATION OF WORDS AND SYMBOL. WORDS ALONE WERE LEAST EFFECTIVE. SHAPE OF SIGNS IS OF NO VALUE UNLESS THE MOTORIST IS FAMLIAR WITH ITS SPECIAL MEANING AND MANY DID NOT HAVE SUCH KNOWLEDGE. REPEATED TESTS INDICATED THAT REACTION TIME IS LESSENED BY FAMILIARITY. /AUTHOR/