DRIVER JUDGMENTS AS INFLUENCED BY VEHICULAR LIGHTING AT INTERSECTIONS
THE DRIVER'S JUDGMENTS AND DECISIONS AT A RIGHT-ANGLE NONSIGNALIZED INTERSECTION IN RELATION TO THE DEGREE OF GLARE EXPOSURE WERE EXAMINED BY USING BOTH CONVENTIONAL AND POLARIZED HEADLIGHTING. THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON A RUNWAY OF AN AIRPORT IN A DARK RURAL ENVIRONMENT. TWO TYPES OF PROCEDURES WERE EMPLOYED DURING THE TEST. IN THE FIRST, THE SUBJECT DRIVER STATIONED IN A VEHICLE WAS ASKED TO JUDGE THE "LAST SAFE MOMENT" TO START ACROSS THE INTERSECTION AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING TEST VEHICLE FROM THE RIGHT. IN THE SECOND PROCEDURE HE PERFORMED THE CROSSING MANEUVER. TWO AGE GROUPS, OF 10 MALE DRIVERS EACH, WERE RECRUITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EXPERIMENT. STATISTICAL ANALYSES SHOW SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE DRIVER'S REACTION AMONG DIFFERENT LIGHTING MODES. UNDER THE MORE GLARING CONDITIONS, THE SUBJECT DRIVERS REQUIRED LONGER GAP-ACCEPTANCE TIMES AND THERE WAS GREATER VARIANCE IN THE DATA. BOTH AGE GROUPS HAD THE SAME PATTERN OF GAP-ACCEPTANCE VALUES FOR EACH LIGHTING MODE. IN THE PERFORMANCE RUNS, THE YOUNGER AGE GROUP HAD SHORTER GAP-ACCEPTANCE VALUES AND LESS VARIABILITY AMONG DRIVERS. ALTHOUGH LOW-BEAM LAMPS WERE LEAST BOTHERSOME, ACCORDING TO THE DISCOMFORT GLARE EVALUATION DONE BY THE SUBJECT DRIVERS, BOTH POLARIZED HIGH-BEAM SYSTEMS STUDIED WERE SUPERIOR TO CONVENTIONAL HIGH-BEAM SYSTEMS. /AUTHOR/
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Supplemental Notes:
- Paper sponsored by Committee on Visibility and presented at the 49th Annual Meeting. 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:
- Tsongos, Nicholas G
- Schwab, Richard N
- Publication Date: 1970
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 21-32
- Monograph Title: Night visibility and driver behaviour
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Serial:
- Highway Research Record
- Issue Number: 336
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Behavior; Drivers; Gap acceptance; Glare; Headlamps; Intersections; Polarized light
- Old TRIS Terms: Polarized headlights; Right angle intersection
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00223439
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Jun 11 1971 12:00AM