Evaluation of the effects of in-vehicle traffic lights on driving performances for unsignalised intersections

Ground traffic lights are essential for maintaining traffic efficiency and safety at intersections. However, unsignallised intersections are still frequent in actual traffic environments. With the development of new forms of vehicular communication, in-vehicle traffic lights can assist drivers at unsignallised intersections. The authors proposed two types of in-vehicle traffic lights to assist drivers; these corresponded to two-way and all-way stop-controlled intersections. They adopted gap acceptance theory and a first-come-first-served strategy to determine passing priority for the two types of intersections, respectively. They then conducted a driving simulator experiment involving 23 participants, to investigate driver behaviours elicited by the proposed system. They prepared four experimental conditions with combinations of in-vehicle traffic lights and auditory warnings. The authors’ experimental results indicated that in-vehicle traffic lights were associated with significantly longer post-encroachment times and a significantly shorter maximum brake stroke. In terms of eye-gaze behaviours, the percentage of gaze concentration to the road centre area and mean glance durations were deemed acceptable for the avoidance of visual distraction, when in-vehicle traffic lights were presented via a head-up display. Therefore, their analysis of driver behaviours indicates that in-vehicle traffic lights can effectively provide driver assistance at unsignallised intersections.