WINDSHIELD DAMAGE AND DRIVING SAFETY

Three tasks concerned with windshield damage and driving safety were completed. First, a review of the literature revealed abundant information on general problems of visibility and the assessment of windscreen optical quality, but little information specifically pertaining to windshield damage. Second, the available accident data were analyzed. While the evidence is tenuous and sparse, there were no indications that windshield damage has been a causal factor in accidents. Only in the CPIR computerized accident file has windshield condition been coded, and in that file only two vehicles had pre-crash windshield damage. In neither case was it a causal factor. Finally, in a two-choice response time experiment, sixteen drivers viewed slides of nighttime road scenes through four different windshields. Drivers were asked to indicate if it was "safe to proceed" (or not) by pressing buttons. Increasing the degree of windshield damage led to increases in response time, especially when a light simulating the glare of an oncoming vehicle's headlamps was present. This last result suggests to the authors that windshield damage is a visibility problem that should receive more attention from drivers and safety organizations.

• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Safety Research Institute

  Huron Parkway and Baxter Road
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109

  Auto Glass Industry Committee for Highway Safety

  1717 K Street, NW, Suite 802
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Authors:
  • Green, P
  • Burgess, W T
• Publication Date: 1981-6

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 73 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Data analysis; Emergency response time; Experiments; Loss and damage; Mathematical analysis; Night visibility; Reaction time; Safety; Visibility; Windshields
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00361995
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: UM-HSRI-81-35 Final Rpt., HS-032 731
• Contract Numbers: 80-1352-C1
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 30 1982 12:00AM