In-vehicle multimodal alerts near active highway-rail grade crossings and their effects on driver behavior

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2026

Department

Department of Psychology and Human Factors; Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Abstract

Risky driving behaviors and distractions are one of the leading causes of vehicle-train accidents at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings (HRGCs), leading to immense loss of life and property. To improve driver behavior near active HRGCs, the current study investigated the effectiveness of in-vehicle visual and auditory alerts. Fifty-one participants experienced a preliminary intelligent alert about an upcoming rail crossing, an intermediate alert to slow down, and a final alert to stop before an active HRGC in a driving simulator study, across two sites. Results showed that both the intermediate and final alerts produced significant reductions in approach speed compared to no-alert conditions. Eye-tracking data showed that, without the intermediate alert, drivers spent more time fixating on the right peripheral roadway; when the intermediate alert was present, right-side fixation durations decreased, indicating a more evenly distributed visual scan. Overall, these findings demonstrate that sequential multimodal alerts can meaningfully improve driver behavior at active HRGCs. Implementing tiered, multimodal alerts in vehicles could enhance drivers' compliance with crossing warnings and encourage more distributed visual scanning, thereby potentially reducing collision risk at railroad crossings.

Publication Title

Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology and Behaviour

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