Pedestrian visibility at night: the influence of the pedestrian clothing and the defective headlamp of the car

Abstract

Low night vision is a factor contributing to the production of traffic accidents. In this work, we investigated the distance from which pedestrians can be seen by night, by a driver driving a car with a single functional headlamp. Six pedestrian clothing conditions were tested (black, blue, red, green, yellow and reflective vest). Pedestrians wearing dark clothing (black, blue) were only visible from a distance of 10 meters; the best visibility was for the pedestrian that wearing the reflective vest. The results demonstrate the importance of pedestrian clothing during night time on visibility while traveling on the public road.