Driver-Related Factors Affecting Traffic-Sign Letter Height Preferences: A Regression-Based Study in Kut City, Iraq
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study investigated driver-related factors affecting preferred traffic-sign letter height in Kut City, Iraq. A questionnaire survey was conducted with drivers of different vehicle types to examine the effects of age, gender, driving experience, and vehicle type on preferred letter height. The collected data were analysed using multiple regression to identify significant predictors of letter-height preference. The results showed that older drivers and heavy-vehicle drivers preferred larger traffic-sign letters. Specifically, the age groups 46–55 years (B = 2.5, p = 0.02) and 56–65 years (B = 4.0, p = 0.001), as well as lorry drivers (B = 2.2, p = 0.005) and bus drivers (B = 1.8, p = 0.02), were positive predictors of preferred letter height. Gender and driving experience were not statistically significant predictors after controlling for the other variables. Model validation was assessed using residual normality checks and multicollinearity diagnostics. The findings suggest that driver age and vehicle type should be considered when refining traffic-sign letter-height guidelines. However, because the study is based on self-reported preferences from one city, further field-based legibility testing is needed before the findings are generalised to wider traffic-sign design standards.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Journal of Studies in Science and Engineering is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY-4.0).
References
W. Cao, Y. Wu, C. Chakraborty, D. Li, L. Zhao, and S. K. Ghosh, "Sustainable and transferable traffic sign recognition for intelligent transportation systems," IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 24, no. 12, pp. 15784-15794, 2022, doi: http://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2022.3215572.
M. R. Hossain, H. Abou-Senna, M. J. Amon, and D. Knox, "Contextual Effects to Modulate Sign Adherence: Moderating Driver Behavior in Response to Creative versus Traditional Dynamic Message Signs under Varying Driving Conditions," Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 21-35, 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2470-9670.2024.v8.i2.a155.
X. R. Lim, C. P. Lee, K. M. Lim, T. S. Ong, A. Alqahtani, and M. Ali, "Recent advances in traffic sign recognition: approaches and datasets," Sensors, vol. 23, no. 10, p. 4674, 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/s23104674.
S. Chen, J. Hu, Y. Shi, L. Zhao, and W. Li, "A vision of C-V2X: Technologies, field testing, and challenges with Chinese development," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 3872-3881, 2020, doi: http://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2020.2974823.
S. S. Htun, J. S. Park, K.-W. Lee, and J.-H. Han, "TempoLearn network: Leveraging spatio-temporal learning for traffic accident detection," IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 142292-142303, 2023, doi: http://10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3343410.
L. Han, Z. Du, S. Wang, and Y. Chen, "Analysis of traffic signs information volume affecting driver’s visual characteristics and driving safety," International journal of environmental research and public health, vol. 19, no. 16, p. 10349, 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610349.
S. M. Saad, M. A. Adnan, and N. Sulaiman, "Evaluation Impact of Different Color Road Signage to the Driver’s Behavior at Horizontal Curve of Two-Lane Rural Highway," Technology, vol. 6, pp.1-13, 2021.
J. Hinton, O. Oviedo-Trespalacios, B. Watson, and N. Haworth, "Beyond the billboard: A review of other external sources of driver distraction," Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 208, p. 107771, 2024, doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2024.107771.
M. A. Regan and O. Oviedo-Trespalacios, "Driver distraction: mechanisms, evidence, prevention, and mitigation," in The vision zero handbook: Theory, technology and management for a zero casualty policy: Springer, 2022, pp. 995-1056. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76505-7_38
Harrington Driver Training Services. Excessive Road Signage - ‘Information Overload’? [Online] Available: https://www.grahamfeest.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/excessive-road-signage-Information-overload.pdf
J. Dobres, S. T. Chrysler, B. Wolfe, N. Chahine, and B. Reimer, "Empirical assessment of the legibility of the highway gothic and Clearview signage fonts," Transportation research record, vol. 2624, no. 1, pp. 1-8, 2017, doi: https://doi.org/10.3141/2624-01.
S. Hovhannisyan, "Graphic oriented design of a modern city," Art and design, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 21-29, 2021, doi: http://doi.org/10.30857/2617-0272.
R. Atienza, "Vision transformer for fast and efficient scene text recognition," in International conference on document analysis and recognition, 2021: Springer, pp. 319-334, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86549-8_21.
D. Tabernik and D. Skočaj, "Deep learning for large-scale traffic-sign detection and recognition," IEEE transactions on intelligent transportation systems, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 1427-1440, 2019, doi: http://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2019.2913588.
S. Gunasekara, D. Gunarathna, M. Dissanayake, and M. Dissanayake, "Advanced driver-assistance system with traffic sign recognition for safe and efficient driving," International Journal on Recent and Innovation Trends in Computing and Communication, vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 11-15, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.17762/ijritcc.v9i9.5488.
J. Zhang, Z. Xie, J. Sun, X. Zou, and J. Wang, "A cascaded R-CNN with multiscale attention and imbalanced samples for traffic sign detection," IEEE access, vol. 8, pp. 29742-29754, 2020, doi: http://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2972338.
Y. Zhang, "Effects of text space of Chinese-English bilingual traffic sign on driver reading performance," Displays, vol. 67, p. 102002, 2021, doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2021.102002.
C. Ezeibe et al., "The impact of traffic sign deficit on road traffic accidents in Nigeria," International journal of injury control and safety promotion, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 3-11, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/17457300.2018.1456470.
T. R. Dewi, "Analyzing Transportation Safety: The Role of Signage in Preventing Accidents: The Role of Signage in Preventing Accidents," Journal of Scientific Research, Education, and Technology (JSRET), vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 35-49, 2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.58526/jsret.v4i1.634.
S. O. Baltierra, "Urban signs. The relationship between signage and road accidents," The Design Journal, vol. 22, no. sup1, pp. 2163-2164, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2019.1595455.
P. Szagała, P. Olszewski, W. Czajewski, and P. Dąbkowski, "Active signage of pedestrian crossings as a tool in road safety management," Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 16, p. 9405, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169405.
P. Olszewski, W. Czajewski, P. Dąbkowski, C. Kraśkiewicz, and P. Szagała, "Assessment of the effectiveness of active signage at pedestrian crossings," Archives of Civil Engineering, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 125-139, 2015, doi: http://doi.org/10.1515/ace-2015-0018.
M. Ferko, A. Stažnik, M. Modrić, and H. Dijanić, "The impact of traffic sign quality on the frequency of traffic accidents," Promet-Traffic&Transportation, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 549-558, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.7307/ptt.v31i5.3023.
D. Babić, D. Babić, H. Cajner, A. Sruk, and M. Fiolić, "Effect of road markings and traffic signs presence on young driver stress level, eye movement and behaviour in night-time conditions: a driving simulator study," Safety, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 24, 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/safety6020024.
M. Al Hamami and T. Matisziw, "Measuring the spatiotemporal evolution of accident hot spots," Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 157, p. 106133, 2021, doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2021.106133.
A. Abd Karim, M. F. Fauzan, M. T. Ahmad, and A. T. H. A. Aziz, "Transformation of Signage and Road Markings as a Medium for Safety in School Area," International Journal of Synergy in Engineering and Technology, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 114-124, 2021.
J. Ben-Edigbe, "Influence of night rainfall on stopping sight distance on dark roadways," The Open Transportation Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 32-37, 2020, doi: http://doi.org/10.2174/1874447802014010032.
C. De Santos-Berbel and M. Castro, "Effect of vehicle swiveling headlamps and highway geometric design on nighttime sight distance," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, vol. 170, pp. 32-50, 2020, doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.matcom.2019.08.012.