THE ABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN OBSERVERS OF CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION FREEWAY SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM

TESTS WERE CONDUCTED ON THE DETROIT FREEWAY, USING FOUR TELEVISION OBSERVERS, IN AN EFFORT TO DETERMINE' 1/ THE EXPECTED DEGREE OF ACCURACY IN REPORTING INCIDENTS, 2/ IF THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC AFFECTS THE OBSERVERS RELIABILITY, 3/ WHEN OBSERVER FATIGUE BEGINS TO AFFECT RELIABILITY, AND 4/ IF ONE OBSERVER VARIES FROM ANOTHER AND FROM THE GROUP IN ABILITY TO OBSERVE AND RECORD EVENTS. THE DEGREE OF ACCURACY IN REPORTING INCIDENTS WAS CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO OBSERVED IMPINGEMENTS OF CARS ON ROAD SHOULDERS. WHEN THE RECORDS OF THE TWO BEST OBSERVERS WERE COMBINED, APPROXIMATELY 90 PERCENT OF TOTAL ACCIDENTS WERE REPORTED. AS MAY HAVE BEEN EXPECTED, THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC OBSERVER RELIABILITY /ADVERSELY/. NO FATIGUE EFFECTS WERE FOUND OVER A FOUR HOUR PERIOD. THE STUDY SHOWS INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN REPORTING ACCIDENTS, PARTICULARLY DURING THE PERIOD OF PRACTICE AND TRAINING.

• Corporate Authors:

  Nat Prvg Fwy Sur Controls, Detroit

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Bergsman, S
• Publication Date: 1965-3-2

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accuracy; Closed circuit television; Fatigue (Physiological condition); Freeways; Human factors; Motor skills; Performance; Reliability; Reports; Systems; Television cameras; Testing; Traffic surveillance; Traffic volume
• Uncontrolled Terms: Observation; Reporting
• Old TRIS Terms: Observers; Occurrences
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00224805
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Report/Paper Numbers: Hpr
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 1 1994 12:00AM