DYNAMIC VISUAL ACUITY-EFFECT ON NIGHT DRIVING AND HIGHWAY ACCIDENTS

VISUAL ACUITY MAY BE MEASURED DURING THE VOLUNTARY OCULAR PURSUIT OF MOVING TEST OBJECTS. THIS VISUAL FUNCTION HAS BEEN REFERRED TO AS DYNAMIC VISUAL ACUITY. THE APPARENT MOVEMENT OF THE TEST OBJECT IS PRODUCED BY ROTATING A MIRROR IN THE DESIRED PLANE OF PURSUIT BY MEANS OF A WHEEL AND DISK TYPE VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE. THE RANGE OF ANGULAR VELOCITIES UTILIZED IS 10 DEGREE TO 170 DEGREE /SEC AT THE NODAL POINT OF THE TESTED EYE. IT IS SHOWN THAT VISUAL ACUITY DETERIORATES MARKEDLY AND SIGNIFICANTLY AS THE ANGULAR VELOCITY OF THE TEST OBJECT IS INCREASED. IT IS SHOWN FURTHER THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VISUAL ACUITY AND THE ANGULAR VELOCITY OF THE TEST OBJECT MAY BE DESCRIBED SATISFACTORILY BY THE SEMIEMPIRICAL EQUATION Y=A + BX CUBE. IT ALSO IS POINTED OUT THAT INDIVIDUALS POSSESSING SIMILAR STATIC ACUITY MAY DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY IN THEIR DYNAMIC ACUITY. THE POSSIBLE CAUSES FOR THE OBSERVED DETERIORATION OF ACUITY ARE DISCUSSED AND IT IS CONCLUDED THAT IMPERFECT PURSUIT MOVEMENTS OF THE EYE RESULTS IN A CONTINUED MOTION OF THE IMAGE ON THE RETINA. THIS MOTION RESULTS IN REDUCED INTENSITY CONTRAST, WHICH IS A FACTOR IN PRODUCING LOSS IN ACUITY. IT WAS DEMONSTRATED THAT THE MANNER IN WHICH VISUAL ACUITY DETERIORATES AS THE ANGULAR VELOCITY OF THE TEST OBJECT INCREASES IS SIMILAR REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE MOTION IS PRODUCED BY MOVING THE TARGET VERTICALLY, HORIZONTALLY, OR BY ROTATING THE OBSERVER IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE. IT WAS SHOWN ALSO THAT THE SEMIEMPIRICAL EQUATION Y = A+BX CUBE DESCRIBES SATISFACTORILY THESE THREE TYPES OF MOVEMENT. IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT INDIVIDUALS HAVING A LOW ACUITY THRESHOLD IN THE VERTICAL PLANE OF MOVEMENT WILL BE LIKELY ALSO TO HAVE A LOW THRESHOLD IN THE HORIZONTAL PLANE. IT WAS SHOWN THAT ALTHOUGH 5 TO 10 FOOT-CANDLES MAY BE SUFFICIENT ILLUMINATION WHEN THE TEST OFJECT IS STATIONARY, VISUAL ACUITY IS SUBSTANTIALLY BENEFITTED BY INCREASES UP TO 125 FOOT-CANDLES WHEN THE OBSERVER IS ROTATED. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/298/298-001.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 298, pp 1-2, 1 TAB. 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:
  • Feldhaus, J L
• Conference:
  • 40th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 1961-1-9 to 1961-1-13
• Publication Date: 1961

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 2p
• Monograph Title: Night visibility 1961
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 298
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Angular velocity; Deterioration; Driving; Eye; Lighting; Night; Traffic crashes; Vision; Visual perception
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220219
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 12 1994 12:00AM