Comparison Between Daytime, Twilight and Nighttime on Detection of Approaching Vehicles by Pedestrians

Abstract

This study examined the causes of traffic accidents between pedestrians and vehicles at twilight, based on the visual characteristics of pedestrians at twilight. To obtain data on the visual characteristics of pedestrians, we conducted an experiment in which a participant wearing an eye tracker walked along a sidewalk on the right side of the road passing vehicles during the daytime, twilight, and nighttime. The experimental data were analyzed by dividing the visual objects into static and dynamic ones. The results showed that the visual characteristics at twilight were not intermediate between those at daytime and nighttime, but were particular ones. It was also revealed that at twilight, people tend to neglect looking carefully at dynamic objects, and the timing of looking at the dynamic objects is apt to be limited to a specific distance.