Is the error rate of accidental driving so high?, On site visit: First time visiting Shanghai, this highway toll station | exit | Shanghai

"When driving from the city center to Nicheng Town, many people will take a wrong route at this highway toll station." Zhang Yinbiao, a representative of the Municipal People's Congress and Secretary of the Party Committee of Nicheng Town, said of the toll station, which is the Lingang toll station on the Shanghai Lu Expressway.

S2 Shanghai-Luchao Port Expressway connects Shanghai's urban area with Lingang New Area and Yangshan Port, with a total length of 42.3 kilometers. Lingang Toll Station is its end toll exit in Lingang New Area. Nanlu Highway direction and Lingang direction divert in front of the toll station.

"Due to the diversion in front of the station, many cars that are going to Nicheng Town and the heavy equipment industrial area for the first time may accidentally drive towards the direction of Lingang." Zhang Yinbiao said that the probability of mistakenly driving at this toll station is still high, and once you accidentally drive on the wrong lane, you need to drive nearly 30 kilometers more.

Why is this crossing so easy to open incorrectly? Does the road sign guidance need to be updated? The reporter recently visited the field.

Field visit: error correction return takes half an hour more

Unlike ordinary toll stations, the S2 Shanghai Lu Expressway Lingang Toll Station belongs to the station front diversion. There are a total of ten exit roads at the toll station. The 8 roads on the left are in the direction of Lingang New Area, and the 2 roads on the right are in the direction of Nanlu Highway, mainly heading towards Nicheng Town and Heavy Equipment Industrial Zone.

On the afternoon of July 1st, the reporter drove along the Shanghai Lu Expressway towards the direction of Nicheng Town. At a distance of about 1000 meters from the S2 Shanghai Lu Expressway Lingang Toll Station, there is a row of high hanging signs above the road, with green background and white characters. From left to right, they are: Toll Station, Toll Station ETC, Nanlu Highway, Lingang. The "Toll Station ETC" signs are the most detailed, indicating the diversion of Donghai Bridge and Nanlu Highway.

Four signs hanging high side by side flashed. Photo by Wang Haiyan

For drivers, the four hanging signs side by side are just a quick glance, making it difficult to see diversion information within a few seconds. Drive further and approach the toll station 50 meters away. On the right side of the road, there are two green and white signs with the words "Lingang Service Area" on the right and "Nanlu Highway" on the left. For those who want to go to the Lingang Service Area, this sign has a guiding effect, but it is also confusing for those who want to go to Nicheng Town and the Heavy Equipment Industrial Zone. On the one hand, apart from Nanlu Road, there are no guidance signs for "Mud Town" or "Heavy Equipment Industrial Zone" here. On the other hand, they may confuse the direction of the port exit and Nanlu Road exit.

At the toll gate, I saw that the direction of Nanlu Road is set at lane 2 on the right, which is easily overlooked compared to the wide lane 8 in the port direction on the left.

"I often see drivers at the wrong exit at the Lingang toll station." Xiao Xia, a driver living in Pudong, is familiar with the road conditions here. She told reporters, "This toll station is a diversion in front of the station. Once you take the wrong exit, the driver will have to detour back on the same path. Even an old driver who is familiar with the road conditions may make a slight mistake." Xiaoxia talked about her experience. Once, when she was driving to Nicheng Town, she saw a long queue at the exit of Nanlu Road, and instinctively drove towards the right lane. After leaving the toll station, she realized that she had taken the wrong path and could only return in a large circle.

Green signs can easily mislead. Photo by Wang Haiyan

If you take the wrong exit, how many roads do you need to drive to correct the mistake and return? The reporter also had an experience. When the car arrived at the toll station, it did not take the exit of Nanlu Road, but chose the exit in the direction of Lingang. After passing through the toll station, the reporter saw that cement barriers were set up between the lanes of Nanlu Road and Lingang. When driving forward, there was no diversion exit ramp, which means that those who drove by mistake did not have the opportunity to correct the diversion behind the station.

So we drove forward all the way. There are four entrances and exits in the direction of Lingang, including Shengang Avenue, Lianggang Avenue, and Yangshan Port, approximately 6.3 kilometers away from the nearest exit of Shengang Avenue. Driving back here, one round trip is 13 kilometers. When returning through the S2 Shanghai Lu Expressway Lingang Toll Station, it is also not possible to directly change lanes because the length of the diversion section cannot meet the lane changing needs, so you can only continue to drive forward for one intersection before returning.

The reporter spent 25 minutes on the journey from taking the wrong exit to correcting the mistake and returning. Xiao Xia told reporters that if you take the wrong exit, you can also get off the highway and take a small path, but the road conditions are more complex and it is easy to drive the wrong way again.

Schematic diagram of toll station entrance. Ren Siqi's Cartography

Representative suggestion: Clarify diversion signs

"We have conducted a rough survey and found that the error rate of mistakenly driving exits for the first time to Nicheng Town and the heavy equipment industry zone is 60%." Zhang Yinbiao said that when convening a meeting in Nicheng Town, one should be mentally prepared, as many cars from the main urban area will mistakenly drive towards the port, resulting in being late for the meeting. After the establishment of the Heavy Equipment Industrial Zone, many people who came here for research have suffered from this toll station.

Zhang Yinbiao's suggestion was also supported by the policy representative, and she had the same experience: "For the first time going to Nicheng Town for a meeting, the person driving from Nanhui arrived on time, while the person driving from the city took the wrong exit and took a 30 kilometer detour. The person who arrived first waited for more than half an hour."

Originally going to Nicheng Town, may drive to the port direction by mistake; and those who want to go to the port may also drive to the direction of Nanlu Highway by mistake. The vague signs make people toss back and forth. Zhang Yinbiao believes that with the increasing development of the new Lingang area and the heavy equipment industrial zone, the traffic flow is increasing day by day, and the false driving rate of toll stations affects the efficient, exemplary and leading image of the new Lingang area to a certain extent.

"The diversion signs of toll stations are not obvious enough, and only the signs of Nanlu Highway do not play a good guiding role. The signs should be updated from the perspective of convenience." Zhang yinbiao suggested to strengthen the diversion prompt for the straight line section in front of the station, set up a continuous diversion prompt for the straight line section after the merging of S2 round-city high-speed interchange node, and be sure to clearly indicate the diversion direction of mud town, heavy equipment industrial zone, etc.

At present, the length of the diversion section at the toll station cannot meet the needs of lane changing, and continuous lane changing poses a safety hazard. Zhang Yinbiao believes that there should be opportunities for error correction after mistakenly entering the vehicle station. He suggests that the continuous cement isolation pier on the left side of the station should have a regular opening and be guided by ground markings and indicator poles for safe evacuation.

In addition to strengthening offline diversion signs, the navigation system prompts also need to be further improved. Zhang Yinbiao also suggests contacting relevant transportation navigation software suppliers to modify and improve the navigation prompts.