Ergonomic(Cognitive) Evaluation of the Traffic Sign System around Seoul Metropolitan Area

수도권 도로 교통 표지판의 인지 공학적 평가 분석

Traffic signs without a cognitive consideration in their design may cause information-processing problem that could result in a mental confusion among drivers often lead to a serious traffic accident. Therefore, in this study, several traffic signs currently used in Seoul Metropolitan area have been sampled and analyzed to identify design problems that usually caused by neglecting drivers cognitive ability. To classify the practical design problems, five major information-processing problems have been suggested: indistinguishable information, information conflict, missing information, sign-load mismatch, and information overload. In order to solve these cognitive problems, new traffic signs have been suggested in this study. An experiment was also performed to validate the new traffic sign. Twenty-four healthy subjects participated in the experiment. They were asked to answer the Question after observing the traffic signs continuously displayed on computer screen. The result indicated that subjects improved the accuracy in understanding the signs by 1.4 times when they used the suggested traffic sign compared to the old one. Based upon the results, a cognitive guideline was suggested for correct and speedy reading of traffic signs by improving information processing and reducing of human error. In conclusion, the traffic sign may well be applied to design an intelligent traffic sign system to increase the safety and comfort of drivers, especially in complex load condition.