THE PERCEPTION OF LEAD VEHICLE MOVEMENT IN DARKNESS

Three experimental studies are described on the detection of longitudinal lead-vehicle movement in darkness. Experiment I, performed in the laboratory, isolated the relative horizontal angular motion of the lead-vehicle's taillights as a cue to the detection of relative longitudinal movement. Movement thresholds were determined as a function of initial headway, exposure duration, direction of the movement, and the presence of a background. All these factors except the last had significant effects on the movement threshold. Experiment II, also a laboratory-experiment, isolated changes in apparent size or brightness of the taillights as a cue. Movement thresholds were again found to be a function of the variables investigated in experiment I. However, thresholds now were much higher than under the isolated angular cue. It was therefore concluded that the relative horizontal angular motion of the lead-vehicle's taillights is the prominent cue in the detection of relative vehicle motion in depth. Experiment III substantiated this conclusion by confirming the parametric outcomes of experiment I under realistic night-driving conditions. The practical relevance of the estimates made from the data of two important temporal parameters in car following, viz. Time until collision and free time after detection. (A)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00014575
• Corporate Authors:

  Pergamon Press, Incorporated

  Headington Hill Hall
  Oxford OX30BW,    
• Authors:
  • Janssen, W H
  • Michon, J A
  • Harvey, L O
• Publication Date: 1976-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 151-166
• Serial:
  • Accident Analysis & Prevention
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0001-4575
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00014575

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Car following; Headways; Laboratory studies; Motion; Night; Night visibility; Perception; Side lighting; Taillamps; Vehicle spacing; Visual perception
• Uncontrolled Terms: Longitudinal movement
• Old TRIS Terms: Thresholds (Perception)
• ITRD Terms: 685: Headway; 5483: Movement; 9052: Night; 2229: Perception; 1331: Side light; 694: Vehicle spacing
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00153320
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analtyic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 13 1977 12:00AM