Are train horns improving road safety? Road users' perspective

Grégoire S Larue; Danielle Villoresi; Sonali Nandavar; Andrew Kidcaff; Christopher N Watling

doi:10.1080/00140139.2024.2333965

Back

Are train horns improving road safety? Road users' perspective

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Are train horns improving road safety? Road users' perspective

Grégoire S Larue, Danielle Villoresi, Sonali Nandavar, Andrew Kidcaff and Christopher N Watling

Ergonomics, Vol.68(3), pp.459-470

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2024.2333965

PMID: 38567973

Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs

Files and links (1)

pdf

Are train horns improving road safety Road users perspective1.29 MBDownload View

Published Version Open Access CC BY-NC-ND V4.0

Abstract

warning

Road safety

railway level crossings

rail safety

Train horns are used as a control at railway level crossing for safety. Despite their wide use, limited information exists on their actual safety benefits. This study used focus groups with road users to understand their perceptions of the usefulness of train horns. This study showed that the message heard by road users is very simple and contrasts with the amount of information train drivers want to convey. The perceived benefits of the train horn were: (i) an additional layer of protection at active crossings; (ii) an important safety feature at rural/passive crossings; (iii) an increased safety benefit for vulnerable road users; and (iv) a greater safety benefit at night. The disadvantages of the use of train horns were perceived as outweighed by the safety benefits. This study highlights that reducing train horns, if safe to do so, could face resistance from road users and the rail industry.

Details

Title: Are train horns improving road safety? Road users' perspective
Authors: Grégoire S Larue (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Road Safety Research Collaboration
Danielle Villoresi - Queensland University of Technology
Sonali Nandavar - Queensland University of Technology
Andrew Kidcaff - Queensland University of Technology
Christopher N Watling - Queensland University of Technology
Publication details: Ergonomics, Vol.68(3), pp.459-470
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2024.2333965
ISSN: 1366-5847
PMID: 38567973
Copyright note: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Organisation Unit: Road Safety Research Collaboration; School of Law and Society
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991014389202621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

9 File views/ downloads

56 Record Views

1 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Engineering, Industrial; Ergonomics; Psychology; Psychology, Applied

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: SDGs from InCites