Enhancing Work Zone Safety: A Psychological and Behavioral Analysis of Anti-Tailgating Strategies Using Dynamic Message Signs and Fixed Warning Signs

Rear-end collisions in work zones, particularly those resulting from tailgating, pose a significant safety challenge that has not been adequately addressed in road safety research. Existing studies have extensively investigated speeding, but the psychological triggers and behavioral patterns leading to tailgating remain largely unexplored. Bridging this critical gap, this research introduces an anti-tailgating strategy using dynamic and fixed message signs, designed with a deep understanding of driver psychology. The methodology involved a user-centric survey assessing the effect of positively toned, non-numerical anti-tailgating messages, which favored clearer comprehension and elicited favorable psychological responses from drivers. Field experiments demonstrated that these signs effectively increased headway and decreased tailgating, without the traffic disruptions associated with pavement markings or the technological limitations of in-vehicle alerts. These encouraging results underscore the potential of strategically placed message signs to positively influence driver behavior. This research not only fills a significant void by elucidating the behavioral factors of tailgating in work zones, but also paves the way for the implementation of behaviorally informed and nonintrusive road safety interventions. The use of dynamic and fixed message signs emerges as a promising, technologically inclusive, and psychologically effective tool for improving road safety.