EFFECT OF DISTANCE AND MOTORCYCLE HEADLIGHT CONDITION ON MOTORCYCLE NOTICEABILITY

THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE DESIGN AND RESULTS OF A SET OF MOTORCYCLE NOTICEABILITY EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE THE DISTANCES AND DIFFERENCES IN DISTANCES DURING DAYLIGHT AT WHICH MOTORCYCLES WITH HEADLIGHTS ON CAN BE PERCEIVED BY DRIVERS AS OPPOSED TO MOTORCYCLES WITH HEADLIGHTS OFF. THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN INCLUDED TWO MOTORCYCLE HEADLIGHT CONDITIONS-NO LIGHT AND HIGH BEAM--AND 6 DISTANCES RANGING FROM 50 TO 300 FT FROM THE OPPOSING VEHICLE. THE EXPERIMENT WAS CONDUCTED IN DOWNTOWN PHILADELPHIA. THE RESULTS OF THIS EXPERIMENT INDICATE THAT, WHEN A MOTORCYCLE OPERATES DURING THE DAYLIGHT WITH A HEADLIGHT, DRIVERS OF OTHER VEHICLES WILL NOTICE THE MOTORCYCLE SOONER AND AT GREATER DISTANCES AND SHOULD THUS BE IN A BETTER POSITION TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTIONS WHEN NECESSARY TO AVOID ACCIDENTS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/377/377-006.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309019923
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Visibility and presented at the 50th 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:
  • Janoff, Michael S
  • Cassel, Arno
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 64-68
• Monograph Title: Visibility
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 377
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Daylight; Distance perception; Headlamps; Motorcycles; Visibility
• Old TRIS Terms: Perception distance
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221659
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309019923
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-011 999
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 22 1972 12:00AM