YELLOW GLASSES FAIL TO IMPROVE SEEING AT NIGHT-DRIVING LUMINANCES

FOR THIS STUDY, ACUITY AND CONTRAST WERE MEASURED FOR 73 PERSONS (AGES 16 TO 72) AT 11, 1.0 AND 0.1 FT.- L. (3025 K.) WITH AND WITHOUT NOVIOL C GLASSES, AND WITHOUT THE YELLOW GLASSES AT AN INTENSITY EQUAL TO THE OVERALL TRANSMISSION OF THE YELLOW GLASSES. THE LATTER PERMITS EVALUATION OF ANY EFFECT DUE TO YELLOWNESS SEPARATE FROM DECREASED ILLUMINATION. YELLOWNESS HAD LITTLE EFFECT AT THE HIGHER LUMINANCES AND SOME LOSS OF SEEING FOUND AT THE LOWER LEVELS IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PURKINJE SHIFT. A SMALL BUT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF VISION OCCURS FROM YELLOW GLASSES. THE LOSS APPEARS TO INCREASE WITH AGE. NO OBSERVERS SHOWED ANY CONSISTENT GAIN IN SEEING WITH YELLOW GLASSES FOR BOTH ACUITY AND CONTRAST FOR ALL LUMINANCES TESTED, ALTHOUGH RANDOM SMALL GAINS WERE COMMON. SINCE THERE IS BARELY SUFFICIENT LUMINANCE FOR AVERAGE NIGHT DRIVING, THE LOSS FROM YELLOW GLASSES IS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AND THE DATA RECOMMEND THAT YELLOW GLASSES NOT BE WORN DURING NIGHT DRIVING ON PUBLIC ROADS. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 23, No 7, PP 23-26, 1 TAB
• Authors:
  • Richards, O W
• Publication Date: 1953-7

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Highway Research Abstracts
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board (HRB)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Brightness; Drivers; Vision; Visual perception; Yellow
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver vision; Yellow light
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221561
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 29 1972 12:00AM