TRAFFIC SAFETY: NIGHTTIME AND ALCOHOL RELATED ACCIDENTS
The visual functions involved in steering a vehicle have been shown by recent research to have different properties from the task of recognizing pedestrians or hazards on the roadway. When illumination is reduced at dusk or at night, these functions are selectively affected: the ability to steer the vehicle remains the same but recognition of hazards is severely degraded. As a result of the self-confidence derived from the ability to steer, drivers are not aware of their impaired capacity to recognize hazards under lowered illumination and typically drive too fast at night. This unjustified self-confidence is exacerbated by alcohol which further increases the discrepancy between self-confidence and driving ability. It is suggested that a public educational campaign to inform drivers about the dangerous implications of the selective degradation of vision at night and reestablishment of differential day/night speed limits should be effective in reducing nightime driving accidents.
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Supplemental Notes:
- Presented as a Science and Public Policy Seminar on June 22, 1984, sponsored by the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences.
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Corporate Authors:
Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, & Cog Sci
1200 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20036 -
Authors:
- Leibowitz, H
- Publication Date: 1984
Media Info
- Features: Figures;
- Pagination: 9 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Driver education; Driver performance; Drivers; Drunk driving; Hazards; Impaired drivers; Night; Pedestrians; Personnel performance; Publicity; Safety; Speed limits; Steering; Street lighting; Traffic crashes; Traffic safety; Twilight; Vision
- Old TRIS Terms: Driver impairment; Driver vision
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00451806
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Report/Paper Numbers: HS-039 083
- Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
- Created Date: Dec 31 1985 12:00AM