Factors affecting pedestrian conspicuity at night: Analysis based on driver eye tracking

Abstract

Pedestrians account for nearly a quarter of all road fatalities in the European Union, with almost half of them occurring at night. The aim of this study is to use eye tracking to analyse how well and from what distance drivers perceive pedestrians wearing different clothing (black or light-coloured clothing, or an orange or yellow retroreflective vest). With the data collected from 115 drivers, this study appears to be the largest eye-tracking study of pedestrian conspicuity at night. The results show that participants noticed pedestrians wearing reflective vests at a distance greater than 200 m, while they only noticed those wearing white, grey or black clothes at a distance of 17–50 m. Participants' gender, age and driving experience did not have a significant impact on the distance at which they perceived pedestrians, suggesting that pedestrian visibility is the key determinant of their safety at night. The obtained results and the innovative application of driver eye tracking in this study provide the basis for further research on pedestrian conspicuity at night.