ADAPTING THE HIGHWAY TO THE HUMAN ELEMENT

RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT RELATIVE TO VISUAL REQUIREMENTS ESSENTIAL TO ACCURATE AND RELIABLE VEHICLE CONTROL INDICATE THAT VISUAL VELOCITY INFORMATION IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PERCEPTUAL DIMENSION FOR SAFE PERFORMANCE. THUS, THE BASIC CONDITIONS FOR SAFETY ARE THAT THE ROADWAY ENVIRONMENT BE STRUCTURED TO PROVIDE THIS VISUAL VELOCITY INFORMATION WITHOUT DISCONTINUITIES OR DISTORTION. A HUMAN FACTORS PRINCIPLE MUST BE APPLIED IN SAFETY ENGINEERING TO PROVIDE CRITERIA FOR SPECIFYING CONDITIONS WHICH COMPROMISE SAFETY AND TO INSTITUTE CHANGES TO IMPROVE SAFETY. SIGNIFICANT ENVIRON- MENTAL CONDITIONS ARE STATED AND THE CRUX OF THE PROGRAM FOR INSTITUTING PHYSICAL CHANGES IS THE APPROPRIATE MEASUREMENT OF CHANGES IN SPEED OR PLACEMENT.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1965/79/79-008.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 79, pp 56-57. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Michaels, Richard M
• Publication Date: 1965

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: pp 56-57
• Monograph Title: Highway safety: 1963 and 1964
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 79
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drivers; Environment; Highway safety; Human factors; Improvements; Location; Reaction time; Safety; Speed; Velocity; Vision; Visual perception
• Uncontrolled Terms: Change; Driver reaction
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver vision; Placement; Vision characteristics
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00219554
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Dec 12 1994 12:00AM