ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Rail Safety and Standards Board, and formed part of the signals passed at danger reduction and mitigation research theme. It assesses the human factors risks associated with extending the use of the in-cab Automatic Warning System (AWS). The chapter summarises the work performed in the study and considers new areas of psychological investigation believed to be important for driver related research, the methods used to gather and analyse industry experience. It examines the risk of drivers failing to behave appropriately to AWS warnings. AWS was originally intended to support semaphore signalling, and only later became extensively used within three and four aspect colour light signalling. Field research sought to capture the extensive operational experience available within the industry, and to gather detailed insights on the possible influences that might lead to driver errors with AWS. The chapter investigates whether extended AWS could, potentially lead to signals passed at danger.
