Applying Theory of Planned Behavior to Explore the Safety Effects of Yellow Alert on Changeable Message Signs: Elicitation Interview Results

The Yellow Alert program was proposed by the California Department of Transportation to establish a system designed to coordinate public alerts following a major injury or fatality producing hit-and-run collision. Sufficient vehicle information would be displayed on a changeable message sign (CMS) to either avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of the suspect. There are safety concerns with posting this “Alert”, which may distract drivers if they look for the suspected vehicle, or if they change driving behaviors to examine surrounding vehicles. No prior studies have examined this topic. Therefore, the research team at California PATH program proposed a systematic human-factors study, aiming to evaluate the safety effects of Yellow Alert. First phase of this study, the elicitation interview, is reported here, which provides insights of drivers’ potential responses to the Yellow Alert message and the underlying beliefs toward their responses framed with the model of Theory of Planned Behavior.