Effectiveness of the driver feedback signs for speeds on a two lane rural highway

The paper reports some experimental studies on the impact of the driver feedback signs for speeds on drivers’ behaviour. For this aim spot speeds have been collected on a two lane rural highway at the hinterland of Bari (Italy). It has been appropriately chosen according to its geometric and environmental characteristics. Data were collected using both a hidden radar speed detector and a radar reporting current speeds on a panel clearly visible by the drivers. The analysis of the collected data seems to suggest the existence of a time dependent function of “awareness” of the drivers to the exposure of these signs. The paper also reports about the original way followed by the authors to quantify the impact that these signs have on the driving behaviour; it also gives a correlation between the drivers’ awareness and the impact the it has on drivers’ behavior. Interesting conclusions about the effectiveness of this kind of signs have been drawn