ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Supplementary signs are essential to improve riders' understanding of road signs. In order to attract the rider's attention and ensure the information on the supplementary sign is effectively delivered, a study on the effective ways to display the information in the supplementary sign is needed. The current study examined the effects of capitalization and information length in supplementary signs on road sign comprehension among riders. METHOD: A randomized 2 (capitalization: all letters capitalized vs the first letter capitalized) × 2 (information length: long vs. short) factorial design experiment was conducted on 131 young motorcyclists in the Jakarta area. Road sign comprehension was measured using sign comprehension time and sign comprehension level. RESULT: A 2 × 2 factorial ANOVA analysis showed a significant effect of information length on sign comprehension time: less information in supplementary signs can increase sign comprehension time. Additionally, a significant interaction was found between capitalization and information length on sign comprehension level: sign comprehension levels would be improved if supplementary signs were presented with capitalization at the beginning of each word and had a long information length. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that there is a need to consider the capitalization and length of information in designing supplementary traffic signs. The effective design of supplementary signs could help riders to comprehend the road sign quickly and accurately, thus improving traffic safety.
