Preference and glance legibility of traffic signs

ABSTRACT The study investigated the main issue of the differences in preferences and glance legibility between word and picture versions of regulatory traffic signs. Thirty stimuli were selected from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices with some modyications to avoid the possibility of confusing the classification between the two versions. Results of the study showed that the picture was preferred over the word version. Other results indicated that the long exposure duration yielded better performance than the short performance and the mean of correct responses for the picture was much better than for the word version. The findings of the study significantly support the idea of changing the orientation of language-bound word traffic signs to the relatively language-free picture traffic signs