HUMAN FACTORS CONSIDERATIONS FOR A COMBINED BRAKE- ACCELERATOR PEDAL

THE RESULTS OF A SERIES OF NINE EXPERIMENTS OVER A THREE-YEAR PERIOD ARE REPORTED. EXPERIMENTS ONE THROUGH SIX, PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED, INDICATED THAT A PEDAL WHICH ACTUATED AN ACCELERATOR UPON DEPRESSION OF THE TOE AND ACTUATED THE BRAKE UPON DEPRESSION OF THE HEEL SAVED 0.2 SEC (ONE CAR LENGTH AT 60 MPH) OVER THE CONVENTIONAL SEPARATE CONTROLS. EXPERIMENT SEVEN INVESTIGATED THE EFFECT ON REACTION TIME OF: THE ANGLE THE PEDAL MADE WITH THE FLOOR; THE FORCE REQUIRED TO ACTUATE THE BRAKE CONTROL; THE FORCE REQUIRED TO ACTUATE THE ACCELERATOR CONTROL; AND THE SEAT REFERENCE DISTANCE. THE MINIMUM TIME WAS 0.241 SEC. EXPERIMENT EIGHT INVESTIGATED THE EFFECT ON REACTION TIME OF: THE ANGLE THE PEDAL MADE WITH THE FLOOR; SEAT HEIGHT FROM THE FLOOR; THE ANGLE OF TWIST OF THE PEDAL; AND THE SEAT REFERENCE DISTANCE. THE MINIMUM TIME WAS 0.284 SEC. EXPERIMENT NINE INVESTIGATED, FOR OLDER SUBJECTS, THE EFFECT ON REACTION TIME OF: PEDAL ANGLE; SEAT REFERENCE DISTANCE; AND THE ANGLE OF TWIST OF THE PEDAL. THE REACTION TIME OF THE OPTIMUM COMBINATION WAS 0.270 SEC. THE SAVINGS OF 0.18 SEC (VERSUS CONVENTIONAL) FOR STUDENT SUBJECTS INCREASES TO 0.23 SEC FOR SUBJECTS AGED 60. /AUTHOR/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00140139
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 14, No 2, PP 279-292
• Authors:
  • Konz, S
• Publication Date: 1971-3

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Ergonomics
  • Volume: 14 N
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis
  • ISSN: 0014-0139
  • EISSN: 1366-5847
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/terg20

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acceleration (Mechanics); Age; Brakes; Human factors; Pedals; Reaction time
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223574
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 29 1971 12:00AM