All drivers are familiar with the basic traffic signal dilemma: whether to enter the intersection or to stop when they see the green phase ending. Wrong decisions to cross may lead to Red Light Running (RLR) violations and to angle crashes; unnecessary stop decisions lead to excess queue and frustration, and may lead to rear-end crashes. This study examines a conceptual in-vehicle system designed to facilitate decision making of drivers approaching a signal. According to the distance from the traffic light and the remaining time for the green phase, the system provides an auditory and visual indication to drivers if they need to stop. We conducted a driving simulator experiment with 20 subjects; each subject drove through 28 interurban traffic lights, 14 with and 14 without the evaluated system. Results show 96% reduction in RLR violations, and 70% reduction in the behavioral dilemma zone range. Change in signal crossing decision probability was modest (6% reduction) and not statistically significant. An exploratory evaluation suggests that driver hesitation during the amber light is substantially reduced, and that intersection clearing time is shorter and much more predictable. If similar effects will occur in reality, less angle crashes and less rear-end crashes can be expected.
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