Auxiliary strobe lights improve train visibility

Abstract

The inattentiveness of road users during their approach towards passive railway crossings represents a major threat for crossing safety. This paper presents an auxiliary strobe light system as a countermeasure to cope with this inattentive behaviour. This system is installed on the front and the sides of the locomotive in addition to the already existing headlights to increase the salience of the train. In order to assess the functionality of the system it was as well installed on a real locomotive as implemented in the virtual environment of a driving simulator to test its effect on the user. This paper presents as well the system that has been developed as the assessment of the technical feasibility. A proof of concept of the auxiliary strobe light system was successfully implemented on a railway vehicle and tested under realistic conditions. Furthermore, the system was virtually implemented in a driving simulator to conduct an empirical study on the effects the system has on drivers that are approaching a passive level crossing. The participants of the study judged the system as highly useful to enhance the detection of the train al the level crossing as well as the overall safety.