REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON LIGHT AS AFFECTING HIGHWAY TRAVEL AT NIGHT
IN APRIL, 1939, A COMPREHENSIVE STATEMENT ON HIGHWAY LIGHTING WAS PREPARED FOLLOWING APPOINTMENT BY THE HIGHWAY RESEARCH BOARD OF A WORKING COMMITTEE AND SELECTION OF A NUMBER OF STUDIES WHICH SOULD BE MADE. RECENT STUDIES OF DRIVER BEHAVIOR BOTH IN DAYTIME AND AFTER DARK BY THE PUBLIC ROADS ADMINISTRATION ARE ADDING DATA TO THAT ALREADY AVAILABLE RELATING TO LIGHT AS IT AFFECTS NIGHT HIGHWAY TRAVEL. A DAY-AND- NIGHT STUDY ON A ONE-MILE LIGHTED SECTION OF U.S. ROUTE 422 NEAR CHAGRIN FALLS, OHIO, REVEALS SOME INTERESTING DATA. THEY ARE BASED ON PARTIALLY COMPLETED ANALYSES, AND CERTAIN CONDITIONS AT THE LOCATION STUDIED NOT CONSIDERED NORMAL MUST BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN INTERPRETING THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. FURTHER STUDIES ON LONGER ILLUMINATED STRETCHES AND UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS MAY PROVE THEY ARE NOT TYPICAL. (1) AVERAGE NIGHT SPEEDS WERE SOMEWHAT LOWER THAN AVERAGE DAY SPEEDS, BOTH WITHOUT AND WITH HIGHWAY ILLUMINATION. (2) THE PERCENTAGES OF CARS TRAVELING FASTER THAN 45.5 M.P.H. WERE SMALLER AT NIGHT THAN IN THE DAY, BOTH WITHOUT AND WITH HIGHWAY ILLUMINATION. (3) AT NIGHT, THE AVERAGE WAS SLIGHTLY LESS WITH HIGHWAY ILLUMINATION THAN WITH NO FIXED ILLUMINATION. (4) AT NIGHT, WITH FIXED ILLUMINATION, A WET PAVEMENT DID NOT RESULT IN A REDUCED AVERAGE SPEED, THOUGH THE PERCENTAGE OF CARS EXCEEDING 45.5 M.P.H. WAS LOWER FOR THE WET PAVEMENT. /AUTHOR/
- Record URL:
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Supplemental Notes:
- Vol 19, pp 171-274, 1 TAB. 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.
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Authors:
- Marsh, B W
- Publication Date: 1940
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 5-8, 1939
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Serial:
- Highway Research Board Proceedings
- Volume: 19
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Driver performance; Drivers; Night; Pavements; Personnel performance; Speed; Street lighting; Wet weather
- Uncontrolled Terms: Wet pavements
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00221298
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Oct 3 1971 12:00AM