MOTOR VEHICLE HEADLIGHT BEAM USAGE ON A SECTION OF INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 90

A MOTOR VEHICLE HEADLIGHT BEAM USAGE STUDY WAS INITIATED IN FEBRUARY 1963, TO OBTAIN ACCURATE DATA ON THE USE OF MOTOR VEHICLE HEADLIGHT BEAMS ON THE INTERSTATE SYSTEM. IT WAS FOUND THAT 67 PERCENT OF ALL MOTORISTS TRAVELING THE INTERSTATE STUDY SECTION WERE USING THEIR LOW BEAMS WHEN FIRST SIGHTED. A TRAFFIC VOLUME INCREASE OF 2.3 TIMES SHOWED ONLY A 5 PERCENT INCREASE IN LOW BEAM USE. THIS VARIATION IS NOT LARGE ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN FULLY THE HIGH USAGE OF LOW BEAMS ON THE INTERSTATE IN TERMS OF THE VOLUME OF VEHICLES TRAVELING IN THE SAME DIRECTION. SIXTY-SIX PERCENT OF ALL MOTOR VEHICLES WHO WERE ON HIGH BEAM WHEN FIRST SIGHTED DID NOT LOWER THEIR HEADLIGHTS FOR THE PATROL VEHICLE. ABOUT 2 PERCENT OF ALL VEHICLES ON LOW BEAM WHEN FIRST SIGHTED CHANGED TO HIGH BEAM AT THE MOMENT OF RELATIVE COINCIDENCE. THIS UNUSUAL ACT WAS PROBABLY CAUSED BY DRIVER ERROR DUE TO FATIGUE. A SLIGHT UPWARD TREND WAS INDICATED IN THE USE OF LOW HEADLIGHT BEAMS AS WEATHER CONDITIONS VARIED FROM CLEAR SKIES TO PERIODS OF PRECIPITATION.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1967/164/164-003.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Night Visibility and presented at the 45th 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.
• Authors:
  • Cheeseman, Max R
  • Voss, William T
• Publication Date: 1967

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 17-20
• Monograph Title: Night visibility
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 164
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Beams; Headlamps; Motor vehicles; Studies; Traffic volume; Utilization
• Identifier Terms: Interstate Highway System
• Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00219906
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-000 708
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 27 1994 12:00AM