Effect of driving experience on drivers' decoding process of roadway interpersonal communication

Sixty-three participants (32 novice, 31 experienced drivers) evaluated meanings of road users' signals in 24 traffic situations such as blinkers, headlights, hazard lamps and hand gestures. The traffic scenes were projected with a slide projector in a laboratory. Confidence in answers was also evaluated by using a five-point scale. The signals were classified into three categories: Formal Device-based Signal (Formal Signal), Informal Device-based Signal (Informal Signal), and Informal Gesture-based Signal (Everyday Signal). The total comprehension scores demonstrated that experienced drivers could understand the signals better than novice drivers. There was a large difference in the comprehension scores for Informal Signal between experienced and novice drivers. Novice drivers could understand Formal Signal and Everyday Signal better than Informal Signal. Similar results were also obtained in the confidence scores. Experienced drivers were more confident in their answers than novice drivers. An effect of gender was found in the scores of confidence. The discussion focuses on how driver's skill in interpersonal communication on roads develops in real traffic situations.