Originally published by Douglas Keene.
Today’s researchers wanted to see which common road sign was the best way to clearly communicate rules of the road to both auto drivers and cyclists. The sign illustrating this post is the one they found best communicated the fact that cyclists can bike in the center of the lane legally.
They used Twitter to recruit 1,800 survey takers and checked to see which sign communicated that bicyclists do not have to “get out of the way” to allow motorists to pass without changing lanes. What is really nice about this signage (the one that says “MAY USE FULL LANE”) is that those who saw it were more likely to recognize the biker’s right to use the road than those who did not see a sign. And the effect was strongest in those who themselves biked less than 10 miles a week or who commuted primarily by car.
Those who saw the traditional “share the road sign” with a bicycle image showed no significant difference in response than those who saw no sign at all. It’s a clearly better communicator than the two other signs often seen along our roadways.
This is research we can directly apply to our work. When the question is which graphic most clearly communicates the rather complex message that reflects the rules of the road all across the United States—the answer is pretty clear. And the value of a good graphics person on your trial team is pretty clear as well.
Hess G, & Peterson MN (2015). “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” Signage Communicates U.S. Roadway Rules and Increases Perception of Safety. PloS one, 10 (8) PMID: 26317355
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
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