EFFECTS OF RETROREFLECTOR POSITIONING ON NIGHTTIME RECOGNITION OF PEDESTRIANS

The field study was designed to investigate potential effects of retroreflector positioning on recognition of nighttime pedestrians. The subject's task was to press a response button whenever he/she recognized a pedestrian on or alongside the road while in a car with low-beam lamps on that was driven at a constant speed on a dark road. The recognition distances were determined by the elapsed time between when a subject started the timer and when the vehicle passed the pedestrian. Four retroreflector configurations were tested: 1) no retroreflectors; 2) torso; 3) wrists and ankles; and 4) major joints. Each of these configurations was presented in connection with two walking directions: an approaching and a crossing pedestrian. The subjects did not know the location of targets in advance, and the order of the retroreflector configurations/walking directions was randomized so that the occurrence and the type of the next target appeared unpredictable to the subjects.

• Record URL:
  http://www.3m.com/market/safety/scotch/psp/UMTRI-95-18.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

  2901 Baxter Road
  Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2150
• Authors:
  • Luoma, J
  • SCHUMANN, J
  • Traube, E C
• Publication Date: 1995-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 20 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drivers; Low beamed headlamps; Night visibility; Pedestrian safety; Reaction time; Retroreflectivity
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00719087
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTRI-95-18,, HS-042 416
• Files: HSL, TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 7 1996 12:00AM