Insert the title of your presentation here Spotting the signs: situation awareness at level crossings Presented by Name Here Job Title - Date Presented by Stephanie Cynk 1 1

Level crossings in Britain are very safe …but incidents still occur These images are from BBC news and they show a very small sample of news items about level crossings from the last 5 years. Total risk at level crossings is calculated at 11.3 Fatalities and Weighted Injuries (FWI) per year, and this is approximately eight percent of the total risk on GB railways [1]. In 2011/12, there were more than 3,800 reported incidents of misuse by road users at level crossings [1], and it is thought that these incidents are under-reported. The need to tackle the issue of road user behaviour at level crossings is therefore very clear. Page  2

Level crossing signs Where road user behaviour is concerned, level crossing incidents can be caused by errors or violations. An example of an error might be when someone is distracted and doesn’t see the level crossing lights, and passes through the crossing. A violation is where they see the lights are flashing red and know that they should stop, but they make a conscious decision to keep driving through. Signs, signals and markings are some of the measures in place which aim to affect road users’ behaviour at level crossings, but current signing schemes have grown up organically, with new signs being added over the decades following incidents etc. The result is that on the approach to a level crossing people may come across a variety of signs. In 2009 RSSB commissioned a root and branch review of signing requirements at level crossings to determine, without the influence of the legacy of previous requirements and constraints, the types of signs, signals and markings that would be most effective in reducing road user errors at level crossings, and consequently whether improvements can be made on existing arrangements. Page  3

T756 – Signs and signals at level crossings Commissioned by RSSB in 2009 A root and branch review of signing requirements Without the influence of previous requirements and constraints, What would be most effective in reducing road user errors at level crossings?

Situation awareness (Endsley, 1995; Endsley, 2000) Perception Take in information through senses Use information to forecast future events Perception Comprehension Projection The aim of these traffic signs is to make road users aware of what to expect in their environment and in some cases to tell them how to behave; in other words to improve their situation awareness. SA is a concept that has grown out of the aviation industry. It has three levels: Perception, which involves taking in information through the senses Comprehension, which is about assigning a meaning to the information, through processes such as combination, interpretation, storage and retrieval Projection, the highest level of situation awareness, in which information about current events is used to forecast future events Poor situation awareness has been identified as a primary factor in accidents involving human error [3], and could be associated with incidents at level crossings. Assign meaning to information Page  5

Situation awareness An example Perception Comprehension Projection I see a triangular warning sign and light signals ahead I must brake because the barrier will come down and a train will pass through the crossing. I expect other traffic to stop too. Perception Comprehension Projection The light signals are flashing which means stop Page  6

Blocking back When vehicle drivers enter the level crossing at a time when the crossing exit is blocked (eg by queuing traffic) Page  7

Blocking Back The cause of approximately 7% of the risk associated with vehicles at level crossings ‘Never drive onto a crossing until the road is clear on the other side.’ Page  8

Another train coming About 10% of the risk associated with pedestrians at level crossings The primary indications signals provided continue to flash red, the barriers, if provided, stay down Additional measures The tone of the audible alarm changes A sign A signal Page  9

Another train coming Sound 1 – alarm for first train Sound 2 – starts immediately as first train passes, to indicate that another train will pass Page  10

Research questions Does participants’ awareness of the potential for more than one train to pass through the crossing vary by type of level crossing? Do current second train warning signs and sounds affect awareness of the potential for second trains? Are participants aware that they should not enter the level crossing before the crossing exit is clear? Is awareness of blocking back dependent on level crossing type if a lorry is parked at the level crossing exit? Page  11

Open Crossing Your text Page  12

Automatic Open Crossing Your text Page  13

Automatic Half Barrier Crossing Your text Page  14

Automatic Half Barrier Crossing (Max) Your text Page  15

Manually Controlled Barrier Your text Page  16

MCG Your text Page  17

Another train coming Page  18

Were any road signs present in the video? If so, which ones? Level 1 & 2 situation awareness Another train coming Only shown in one scenario 30 presentations in total 4 recalled its presence Page  19

Did the level crossing have a barrier? Level 1 situation awareness Generally high awareness One participant viewing the AHB Max said there was no barrier Three who viewed the AOCL said there was a barrier Page  20

Assumed barrier would rise Barrier position Level 2&3 situation awareness Generally high awareness that where barrier was present, it was blocking the road Scenario N Assumed barrier would rise AHB 29 27 MCG 30 MCB 31 AHB Max 22 Page  21

Did the level crossing have light signals? Level 1 situation awareness Generally high awareness Four participants viewing the MCG said there were signals (and a further two were unsure) Page  22

Assumed wig-wags would change Signal aspect Level 2&3 situation awareness Generally high awareness One participant thought steady amber instead of red Responses for MCG scenario varied Scenario N Assumed wig-wags would change MCB 30 27 AHB Max 29 26 AHB Page  23

Would you expect another train to pass through the crossing after the first one? Level 3 situation awareness *with significant prompting Expectation Number Yes, a further train could pass 17 No, a further train could not pass 2 Unsure 11 Page  24

Blocking back Page  25

Were any road signs present? If so, which ones? ‘Keep Crossing Clear’ sign Keep Crossing Clear Generally only one or two participants in each scenario recalled it (when it was presented) Almost a quarter recalled the sign in the Open Crossing scenario Page  26

Were there any other road users in the scene? Level 1 situation awareness Generally high awareness of other road users One participant in AHB Max and MCB scenarios said there were no other road users present 15 out of 21 drivers in the MCG scenario said there were no other road users Only car drivers, bus drivers and HGV drivers were included in the remainder of the analysis, which focussed on the crossing exit being blocked by a stationary lorry. This is because these are the only road users whose progress would be affected by a lorry parked on the other side of the crossing. Page  27

Progress through the scene Level 2&3 situation awareness Scenario N Number who saw other road users Number who saw the lorry Number who would proceed AHB 18 17 3 AHB Max 19 AOCL MCB 22 21 MCG 15 10 11 OC 6 Page  28

Discussion Participants’ recall of signs was low The Open Crossing was the notably different scenario Expectation may play an important role in recollection Recalling light signals where there werenone Recalling barriers where there were none Awareness for the potential of more than one train passing through the crossing was generally low Existing measures make a difference (but a very small difference)

Discussion In most scenarios, participants were aware of other road users MCG scenario produced different results Participants mostly said that they would not proceed onto the crossing But almost a quarter of participants said they would Page  30

Conclusions ‘Another train coming’ measures do have an effect But only a small effect There is some awareness of the need to ‘Keep crossing clear’ But there is room for improvement

Do You Have Any Questions? Page  32

Presented by Dan Basacik Senior Human Factors Researcher Thank you Presented by Dan Basacik Senior Human Factors Researcher Email: dbasacik@trl.co.uk Page  33