The Effect of Sign Saturation on Driver Speed Limit Compliance in School Zones

Abstract

School zone sign saturation can be defined as the density of the school zones around a reference school zone. This study investigated the effect of school zone sign saturation on vehicle speed and compliance to school zone speed limit. Based on the models of human information processing, the presence of too many school zone signs in a given area could lead to inattention or lack of attention to those signs leading to a non-compliance of the speed limit in school zones. To investigate the effect of sign saturation, vehicle speed data was collected in four school zones. Results found that the vehicle speed is significantly lower and compliance is significantly higher in high saturation school zones.