In 2007, the MAG Transportation Safety Committee and the MAG Elder Mobility Stakeholders Group jointly launched a road safety project aimed at improving the road environment for older road users. The project installed street name designed for better legibility, based on the FHWA Guidelines and Recommendations to Accommodate Older Drivers and Pedestrians. The types of signs installed by the project included: street name signs, advance street name signs, and internally illuminated signs, with most of them using larger Clearview font. The project spent a total of $300,000, supporting the full cost of producing the new signs with the local agencies responsible for all installation costs. The project also provided local agencies with sign shops, the required software for producing signs with Clearview font. A total of 15 local jurisdictions in the MAG region participated in the project. Project funds were distributed based on the older population in jurisdictions. A total of 2700 signs have been installed across the region. A project has been launched to evaluate potential safety benefits to road users from to these new street name signs, advance street name signs, and internally illuminated signs. A research team from Arizona State University led by Prof. Simon Washington is working on this study. Evaluation Methodology The ASU Team will be using a 3-D driver simulator to observe the driving tasks to be carried out by older driver participants that will be recruited for the study. A mix of road name signs using both Clearview font and other signs will be embedded in the simulated driving road environment.  Simulation Study Plan
The participants will be subjected to two driving tasks designed to measure mobility and safety aspects of the Clearview font. Each of these tasks shall be designed in significant detail.
- Navigation Task. Participants will be asked to follow a previously unknown route through a city environment (written directions, co-pilot, etc.). Subject will press button on steering wheel as soon as the street name sign for the next turn is detected/legible. Subject will need to merge appropriately to make turns and follow designated route.
Measures to be observed: Sign detection distance, number of missed turns, time to intersection (TTI) at which subject moves into lane appropriate for next turn, TTI at which deceleration onset occurs, lateral acceleration and speed of turn, etc. Logic: if driver sees the sign earlier they will make a more controlled maneuver and navigate more easily. - Critical Maneuver Task. Participant will be asked to drive in a simulated urban arterial arterial street environment in moderate traffic (Level of Service D) at 45 mph. Driver will be asked to follow signs to a designated destination which will require critical lane changes, and turns. The driving performance of the driver while exposed to Clearview and other fonts will be evaluated.
Measures: Number of out of lane events, collisions with other vehicles during lane changing, onset of lane changing, deceleration, etc. Logic: if signs are more legible there will be more time to make appropriate and safe driving maneuvers.  Participant Requirements and Recruitment Plan
All the drivers selected will be older than 55 years and it is envisioned that approximately half will be men, half women. It might also be possible that some participants regularly drive within jurisdictions that have installed signs with Clearview font, while others do not. It is estimated that a total of about 30 to 40 subjects will be recruited to participate in the driving simulation.
A number of senior-focused groups, agencies, and communities will be contacted and targeted. A small pre-survey will be constructed to pre-screen potential participants and to select participating subjects. Small cash incentives will be provided to all participants. High resolution images of signs with two different fonts (Clearview and standard) into the urban arterial simulations. These images will include a variety of street names and directional signs from those implemented across jurisdictions in the MAG region. Recruited subjects will be given visual acuity tests prior to their simulation exercises. All standard protocols will be administered, such as pre-experiment simulator adaptation, scripted instructions, etc. A short survey will also be administered to collect relevant socio-demographic information such as age, years of driving experience, etc. | 
