Highlights • From the perspective of driver's mental workload, the impact of the multi-board guide signs on traffic safety is studied. • 32 participants drove on three simulated scenes guided by single-board and multi-board road signs with different number of place names as 5, 7, 9, and 11. • The multi-board signs generate more mental workload than the single-board sign as result of harsh driving performance. • Drivers are likely to reduce the fixation duration and increase the number of saccades on the multi-board signs.

Abstract The rapid development of expressways has led to an increasing number of place names that must be displayed on road guide signs. As a result, multi-board guide signs have been increasingly set up on expressways. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the directional road sign displayed on multi and single-board signs on driver mental workload and behavior. 32 participants including 16 females (mean age = 24.7 years, standard deviation = 1.9 years) participated in the experiment and completed 3 driving simulation scenes. The setting of each scene-sign board was different: 1 board, 2 boards, and 3 boards. The driver needed to reach the designated destination according to the guidance of the road signs. Eye tracker was used to measure the fixation, saccade and electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to measure the alpha (8−13 hz) band absolute power in different signage scenarios. There are two major findings of the study. First, when the number of place names is less than or equal to 7, the multi-board sign generates more mental workload than the single-board sign does. The alpha band power of the driver's frontal area under the multiple boards is lower and affects driving performance (the deceleration is greater). Second, when the number of place names is more than 7, there is no significant difference in the effect on mental workload whether multi or single-board sign is used. However, compared to the single-board sign, drivers in the case of multi-board sign are likely to reduce the fixation duration and increase the number of saccades. The results suggest that it is not necessary to use multi-board signs when the number of place names is less than 7. These findings provide more safety considerations for the setting of multi-board guide signs in the future.