Safer pathfinding strategies for multilevel interchange guide signs based on driving behavior coordination analysis.

Highway multilevel interchanges present unique challenges, characterized by complex road conditions, ambiguous routes and short intervals. Multiple ramps necessitate swift and continuous direction changes, significantly jeopardizing pathfinding safety. Guide signs play a crucial role in improving information recognition and driving safety. This study replaces accident conflicts with risk behaviors and constructs a risk prevention research framework: Firstly, through subjective demand analysis, the cognitive preferences and functional expectations of drivers were analyzed to clarify design orientation. Secondly, the influence of pathfinding process under traffic facility intervention and potential risk relationship was captured in a driving simulation experiment. Furthermore, focus on coupled collaborative analysis, the correlation between longitudinal stability and lateral maneuvering behavior was quantified, and collaborative effectiveness evaluation was conducted. Ultimately, the optimized sign served as a guide for improving behaviors. Results show that: 1) At different ramp decision points, setting "destination separation for different directions" and "lane guidance" information represent drivers'core demands; 2) Under the influence of 4 sign schemes, there are indeed differences in the pathfinding behavior of longitudinal and lateral dimensions, which should be improved in a coordinated manner. 3) Approaching the ramp exit, setting different directions information can help drivers make decisions more quickly, reach the target speed earlier, and reduce conflict time with mainstream traffic. Approaching the ramp for the first diversion, setting both information helps drivers tend to accelerate smoothly, and conduct lane change adjustments before making decisions. Approaching the ramp for the second diversion, simplify setting lane guide information can improve lateral maneuvering and enable faster path selection. 4) Providing information prompts in the form of navigation can offer continuous direction guidance, timely lane changing, with higher longitudinal safety margin and lateral stability. The proposed suggestions for risk prevention can achieve a coordinated improvement in traffic safety across multiple dimensions.