Nighttime conspicuity from the pedestrian’s perspective
In the United States, pedestrian fatalities account for nearly 12% of all traffic fatalities. Nearly two thirds of pedestrian fatalities occur at night, and insufficient pedestrian conspicuity is suspected to be a major causal factor. This paper reviews the existing literature on nighttime pedestrian conspicuity in order to emphasize what we believe is an under-appreciated aspect of the problem: road-users’ lack of awareness of relevant principles. We first review the evidence that insufficient nighttime conspicuity is a critical factor in pedestrian safety. We then examine the relevance of road-users’ lack of awareness of (1) the conspicuity problem, and (2) the fact that effective methods exist to enhance their own conspicuity. Finally we summarize recent data that suggest that educating road users about conspicuity principles might be an effective and economical approach to reducing the problem. We conclude that a carefully designed public education campaign has the potential to increase pedestrian safety at night.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Tyrell, R A
- Brooks, J O
- Wood, J M
- Carberry, T P
- Conference:
- Publication Date: 2004
Language
- English
Media Info
- Pagination: 14p
- Monograph Title: Transportation Research Board 83rd Annual Meeting compendium of papers CD-ROM, January 11-15, 2004, Washington, DC
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Education; Highway safety; Night; Pedestrians; Publicity; Traffic safety; Traffic safety education; Travel behavior
- ATRI Terms: Conspicuity; Crash countermeasure; Education; Night; Pedestrian; Publicity; Road safety; Road user behaviour; Road user education
- Subject Areas: Education and Training; Pedestrians and Bicyclists;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01390551
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: ARRB
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Aug 23 2012 4:55AM