MOTOR VEHICLE REAR LIGHTING AND SIGNALLING

A GENERAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE SUBJECT OF MOTOR-VEHICLE REAR LIGHTING WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE WHAT AVENUES WOULD MOST LIKELY LEAD TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIFICATIONS FOR AN IMPROVED REAR LIGHTING SYSTEM. ANALYTIC AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES ARE EMPLOYED, AS WELL AS EXPERT JUDGEMENT AS DERIVED FROM THE PUBLISHED LITERATURE ON THE SUBJECT AND FROM DIRECT CONSULTATION WITH INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCED IN THE SUBJECT FIELD. THE PROBLEMS ARE ANALYZED AND DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF THE FUNCTIONAL AND PHYSICAL FACTORS INVOLVED, AND THE REQUIREMENTS OF A REAR LIGHTING SYSTEM ARE LISTED. THE RESULTS OF A SURVEY ARE PRESENTED TO SHOW THE DISTRIBUTION AND TREND IN LAMP BEAM INTENSITIES AND LUMINOUS AREAS OVER THE YEARS 1965 THROUGH 1967. A COMPUTER SIMULATION MODEL BASED ON AN ADAPTIVE MATRIX IS DESCRIBED AND SHOWN AS BEING FEASIBLE AND OFFERING A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES FOR THE EVALUATION OF REAR LIGHTING AND OTHER PARAMETERS OF INTEREST IN A DRIVER-VEHICLE SYSTEM. INITIAL RESULTS FROM A NUMBER OF TEST VARIABLES FOUND TO BE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IN THE SUBJECTIVE EVALUATIONS OF REAR LAMPS ARE LISTED. SALIENT FINDINGS FROM PREVIOUSLY PERFORMED SUBJECTIVE TESTS ON SUMMATION OF LUMINOUS AREAS, ADAPTATION LUMINANCE AND VISIBILITY OF LIGHT SOURCES IN FOG ARE ALSO GIVEN. A PROCEDURE IS DESCRIBED FOR THE SEMI-AUTOMATIC DETERMINATION OF "EFFECTIVE PROJECTED LUMINOUS AREA" OF REAR LAMPS. ON THE BASIS OF PRESENT KNOWLEDGE, SOME TENTATIVE PROPOSALS ARE MADE FOR AN IMPROVED REAR LIGHTING SYSTEM TOGETHER WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER WORK NEEDED TO ESTABLISH THE DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS FOR SUCH A SYSTEM. A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY LISTING PUBLISHED WORKS ON THE SUGJECT IS ALSO INCLUDED. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 270 Pp, 50 FIG, 14 TAB, 113 REF
• Corporate Authors:

  University of California, Los Angeles

  Los Angeles, CA  United States 
• Publication Date: 1968-5

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Lamps; Lighting; Lighting equipment; Luminous intensity; Motor vehicles; Psychological tests; Simulation; Specifications; Taillamps; Visibility
• Old TRIS Terms: Subjective tests
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223177
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 23 1970 12:00AM