Reporting of Disabled Vehicles by Cooperative Motorists

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Reporting of Disabled Vehicles by Cooperative Motorists

I. S. Wisepart / S. N. Rosenzweig / M. A. Warskow

An experiment was conducted in four states to determine whether passing motorists will cooperate by reporting fellow motorists needing help. Highways in New York, Kansas, California, and Virginia were selected to represent a typical range of traffic volumes and trip lengths. The passing motorist was instructed by special roadside signs to report motorists needing help by flashing his headlights at a reporting station where observers recorded motorist responses. A disabled vehicle was 'staged' along the test section. The experiment has shown that motorists will cooperate and that the degree of cooperation is predictable. Because of its simplicity and low cost, such a system is particularly applicable to highways in low volume, rural areas where more sophisticated solutions would be impractical. The cooperation received throughout the experiment from highway and police officials, motorists, and news media indicates that a need exists for a reporting system and that there is a high degree of acceptance to the cooperative motorist concept. (Author)