Effects of reverse linear perspective of transverse line markings on car-following headway: A naturalistic driving study

Abstract Car-following is a vital important driving status in traffic operations, and it relates greatly to the rear-end crash issues. Insufficient headway could be a major reason for this issue because the drivers have not enough time to react to a sudden brake from the leading vehicle. However, the most common countermeasures for this issue are based on speed control or management. Given that, the present study attempted to increase the car-following headway by promoting drivers’ risk perception from the perspective of driver’s speed perception as well as distance perception. In the experiment, a kind of transverse line markings that producing reverse linear perspective information were installed on the slow lane of a freeway in China, to visually intervene the drivers’ perception of speed and distance, and with naturalistic driving data collected. The results showed that the car-following time headway was increased after the installation of the transverse line markings with reverse perspective information. And a greater degree of the divergence of the reverse linear perspective information could result in a greater increase in time headway. The effects of the transverse line markings were further discussed considering the influences of edge rate and reverse linear perspective information. The findings of this study suggest that the direct visual intervention on drivers’ distance perception could also be a prominent countermeasure for rear-end crashes and the other safety issues on roadways.