title: The influence of clear zone size and roadside vegetation on driver behavior.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Roadside vegetation provides numerous environmental and psychological benefits to drivers. Previous studies have shown that natural landscapes can effectively lower crash rates and cause less frustration and stress to the driver. However, run-off-the-road crashes resulting in a collision with a tree are twice as likely to result in a fatality, reinforcing the need to examine the placement of vegetation within the clear zone.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study explores the relationship between the size of the clear zone and the presence of roadside vegetation on vehicle speed and lateral position. A static evaluation, distributed electronically to 100 licensed drivers, was utilized to gather speed selections for both real and virtual roads containing four combinations of clear zone sizes and roadside vegetation densities. A case study was included in the static evaluation to investigate the presence of utility poles near the edge of the road on speed selection. Validation of the static evaluation was performed by a field data collection on the same roadways shown to participants in the evaluation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The speeds observed in the field for roadways with medium clear zone/dense vegetation or large clear zone/spare vegetation correlated with the speeds chosen by static evaluation participants. Further field data were obtained on vehicle speeds and lateral positions for additional roads demonstrating the same clear zone size/vegetation density combinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study successfully demonstrates the relationship between clear zone design and driver behavior, which could improve clear zone design practices and thus roadway safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 139B Marston Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: cole@fitzpat.com.
authors.forename: Cole D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 139B Marston Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: cpharrin@student.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Curt P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 142B Marston Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: mknodler@ecs.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Knodler
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 315 Engineering Lab, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: mromoser@ecs.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew R E
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Romoser
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001519:Behavior; D004777:Environment; D004779:Environment Design; D006801:Humans; D010944:Plants; D012449:Safety; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
keywords: Clear zone; Driving simulation; Roadside trees; Safety; Static evaluation