Effect of Higher-Conspicuity Warning and Regulatory Signs on Driver Behavior

Several sign materials have become available in recent years that improve the conspicuity of signs. These improvements include higher retroreflectivity for microprismatic materials that increase nighttime conspicuity, adding fluorescence that improves daytime conspicuity, and adding light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the sign.face to improve daytime and nighttime conspicuity. While prior evaluations have shown these materials to have higher conspicuity than current materials, there has been limited assessment of these materials on actual driver behavior. This research was conducted to evaluate driver response to actual field installations of higher-conspicuity materials. In this project, Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers conducted before-and-after field studies of several different higherconspicuity materials.