Evaluation of a new level crossing warning concept to improve safety of level crossings in remote locations

There are approximately 18,500 level crossings with passive controls (stop or give way signs) in Australia. Improving safety through upgrades with active protection (e.g. flashing lights) presents considerable economic and logistic challenges. A proposed option involves the installation of a new type of lower-cost active warning that provides flashing lights similar to traditional warning systems, and reverts to passive signage when a failure is detected or when there is a loss of power. This study investigates how drivers would react to such signage. A level crossing candidate for implementation of such new signage was replicated in an advanced driving simulator. This study used a within-subjects repeated measures design (N=20) to evaluate the effect of this new configuration of railway crossings on drivers’ stopping compliance, approach speed and safety margins. Participants’ driving behaviour and feedback to this new signage show that human factors issues are inherent to this approach and that the saliency of the passive signage during a failure needs careful consideration.