RESPONSE TO THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S REQUEST FOR COMMENTS ON ITS PROPOSAL TO "ALLOW INSTALLATION OF A MODULATING HEADLAMP ON MOTORCYCLES"

This is a letter from William Haddon, Jr., M.D., President of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, calling attention to the well documented fact that pulsing lights, over a wide range of frequencies, can cause serious abnormal reactions in the central nervous systems of some normal individuals, and that such reactions are known to be an occasional cause of at least some transportation crashes. Dr. Haddon is asking that NHTSA consult in depth with specialists in aerospace medicine and with military and related workers who have dealt with this problem in recent years before taking action on a proposal to allow modulating headlights on motorcycles. Two supplements containing additional information on this subject are attached to this letter. The phenomenon referred to is called photic driving.

• Corporate Authors:

  Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

  1005 North Glebe Road
  Arlington, VA  United States  22201
• Publication Date: 1982

Media Info

• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Flicker; Headlamps; Human factors; Modulation; Motorcycles
• Old TRIS Terms: Modulation; Photic driving
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00379576
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-034 958
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 30 1983 12:00AM