Effect of Nonpermanent Pavement Markings on Driver Performance

A study was conducted to determine the effect on driver performance of different length pavement markings commonly used in work zones. The study was conducted on a divided multilane facility, and the two nonpermanent, or temporary, marking patterns examined were 0.61-m stripes with 11.59-m gaps (2-ft stripes with 38-ft gaps) and 1.22-m stripes with 10.98-m gaps (4-ft stripes with 36-ft gaps). Both of these patterns were compared with the full complement of markings [i. e., 3.05-m stripes with 9.15-m gaps (10-ft stripes with 30-ft gaps) and edge lines]. The field data collection effort consisted of following randomly selected traffic stream vehicles through a segment of roadway marked with one of the patterns noted. The maneuvers of each of the 436 vehicles followed in this manner were recorded on videotape. The tape was then used to obtain the measures of effectiveness (MOEs) necessary to evaluate driver performance as related to the pavement marking patterns. The MOEs used included lateral placement of the vehicle on the roadway, vehicle speed within the test segment, number of edge line and lane line encroachments, and number of erratic maneuvers. For each operational measure examined, the results of the analysis indicated that drivers performed better with the 3.05-m (10- ft) markings that included edge lines. This result is reasonable and was expected. However, the analysis also indicated that drivers generally performed better with the 1.22-m (4-ft) lane lines than with the 0.61-m (2-ft) lane lines, particularly under adverse weather conditions.