1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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?

5. 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

6. 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

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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Open Crossing
Your text
Page  12

13. Automatic Open Crossing
Your text
Page  13

14. Automatic Half Barrier Crossing
Your text
Page  14

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

16. Manually Controlled Barrier
Your text
Page  16

17. MCG
Your text
Page  17

18. Another train coming
Page  18

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. Blocking back
Page  25

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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)

30. 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

31. 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

32. Do You Have Any Questions?
Page  32

33. Presented by Dan Basacik Senior Human Factors Researcher
Thank you
Presented by Dan Basacik Senior Human Factors Researcher
Page  33