In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the prevalence rate for children identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in New Jersey is 1 in 35 children, the second highest rate of ASD diagnosis in the country. Children with autism face numerous obstacles, including learning road safety and interacting with road elements that could raise the risk of their traffic crash involvement. Many agencies across the nation have used disability warning signs as a tool to eliminate such risks. However, the effectiveness of these signs has not been explored yet. This study assesses the effectiveness of specific disability warning signs for autism at multiple locations in New Jersey using video and speed data. To investigate all drivers' responses to the ASD warning signs, the study defined two proxies of following the speed limit and applying brakes to show caution, where the events that did not correspond with the defined proxies were recorded as non-compliance events. Additionally, the Mann-Whitney U test was employed to evaluate the effectiveness during the presence and absence of ASD sign. Study results showed a high rate of non-compliance events for both proxies, and no significant difference in the driving speed was observed during the presence and absence of ASD sign. Additionally, the estimated relative risk/rate ratio revealed that the drivers that did not follow the speed limit were 1.5 times more likely not to apply brakes than the drivers who followed the speed limit, representing careless driving behavior in the area with ASD individuals.

2018年，美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）发现新泽西州自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的患病率为每35名儿童中就有1人，是该国自闭症谱系障碍诊断率第二高的国家。自闭症儿童面临着许多障碍，包括学习道路安全以及与道路元素的互动，这些可能会增加他们发生交通事故的风险。全国许多机构都使用残疾警告标志作为消除此类风险的工具。然而，这些标志的有效性尚未得到探索。这项研究使用视频和速度数据评估了新泽西州多个地点针对自闭症的特定残疾警告标志的有效性。为了调查所有驾驶员对 ASD 警告标志的反应，该研究定义了遵循速度限制和踩刹车以示谨慎的两个指标，其中与定义的指标不相符的事件被记录为违规事件。此外，还采用Mann-Whitney U检验来评估存在和不存在 ASD 迹象时的有效性。研究结果显示，两名代理人的违规事件发生率很高，并且在存在和不存在 ASD 标志的情况下，驾驶速度没有观察到显着差异。此外，估计的相对风险/比率显示，不遵守速度限制的驾驶员不踩刹车的可能性是遵守速度限制的驾驶员的 1.5 倍，这代表了自闭症谱系障碍者所在地区的粗心驾驶行为。