Pedestrian Visibility Research Articles

The Effectiveness of Educating Pedestrians about their own Nighttime Visibility

Pedestrians consistently overestimate their visibility at night. This experiment examined the effectiveness of several strategies of educating pedestrians about their own nighttime visibility. Forty-eight undergraduates were assigned to one of four groups: Lecture, Demo, Combo, or Control. Several weeks prior to data collection, participants in the Lecture and Combo groups had heard a lecture on applied visual physiology in their Introductory Psychology course. Immediately before data collection, participants in the Demo and Combo groups sat in a car and watched a nighttime pedestrian visibility demonstration. Under various clothing and illumination configurations, all participants walked towards a stationary car until they believed they were recognizable as a pedestrian. The lecture significantly reduced estimated visibility distances. This result is encouraging since it suggests public education efforts may be useful. The demonstration did not produce significant changes when participants wore either white or black clothing, but significantly increased estimates when wearing retroreflective strips.

Enhancing the daytime conspicuity of pedestrians through the usage of fluorescent materials

AbstractThe issue of daytime, pedestrian visibility, especially where occupational activities are involved, can be well served by bringing existing and related knowledge on high‐visibility materials together with new product capabilities. Formulated strategically, this information can beneficially serve the personal safety of our society. This particular form of personal safety involves being seen, most critically, by operators of motorized vehicles. Therefore, the issues of visibility, visibility enhancement, and conspicuity are focused upon through the use of high‐visibility materials. High‐visibility materials include but are not limited to retroreflective forms. In daytime and dusk/dawn conditions, fluorescent‐colored products can serve as high‐visibility materials used to effectively generate enhanced conspicuity. the time has now come to more aggressively research what we may intuitively believe and then apply this knowledge. to more fully grasp what is involved, we must take into account the following: 1. a basic understanding of fluorescence, 2. basic human vision and perception, 3. situations calling for enhanced conspicuity, 4. strategies for use, 5. product development, 6. specfications, guidelines and standards, 7. public education, and awareness. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Biological Motion and Nighttime Pedestrian Conspicuity

Two experiments were conducted in the laboratory to evaluate potential benefits of different retroreflective markings for nighttime pedestrian visibility. Video recordings of a jogger wearing four different markings were made from a vehicle in four different road environments. Subjects viewed composite tapes that included each of the 16 jogger marking/road environment combinations as well as travel with no targets. The task was to step on a pedal immediately upon seeing a jogger, which had no effect on the flow of the video playback. The time between depression of the pedal and the point of "impact" was the major dependent variable. Experiment I showed that performance was better for all retroreflective markings than for the dark control and that it was better with markings of the limbs than of the torso. Experiment 2, which included a secondary video tracking task, showed that performance was better for markings that incorporate biological motion than for a vest or arbitrarily positioned stripes on the limbs. Questionnaire data indicated that 85% of the subjects judged the biological motion markings to be "easiest to see." Also, subjects reported more conservative estimates of nighttime visibility and greater willingness to take personal precautions at night after participating in the experiment.

The Impact of Pedestrian Visibility and Assertiveness on Motorist Yielding

Factors expected to influence yielding by motorists to a pedestrian waiting to cross a city street were examined. The subjects were 160 motorists passing through a marked crosswalk. The motorists were significantly more likely to stop for an assertive pedestrian who entered the crosswalk than for a passive pedestrian who remained on the sidewalk. Motorist yielding was also greater for a brightly clothed pedestrian than for a drably clothed pedestrian.

The effects of expectancy, clothing reflectance and detection criterion on night-time pedestrian visibility : Shinar, D.Human Factors, 1985, 27.3, 327–333

The effects of expectancy, clothing reflectance and detection criterion on night-time pedestrian visibility : Shinar, D.Human Factors, 1985, 27.3, 327–333

The effects of expectancy, clothing reflectance, and detection criterion on nighttime pedestrian visibility

The effects of expectancy, clothing reflectance, and detection criterion on nighttime pedestrian visibility

The Effects of Expectancy, Clothing Reflectance, and Detection Criterion on Nighttime Pedestrian Visibility

Nighttime pedestrian visibility was studied under various combinations of driver expectancy (to see a pedestrian on the road), pedestrian clothing characteristics (dark clothing, light clothing, and dark clothing with retroreflective tags), and the detection criterion (pedestrian versus retroreflective tag). It was found that visibility distance increases with expectancy, but the magnitude of the effect varies as a function of whether or not the pedestrian is wearing the tag. Furthermore, it was shown that when the pedestrian is unexpected, the usefulness of the tag is significant only if the driver can rely on it as a criterion for detection (by prior knowledge of the association between the tag and the pedestrian). The difference in visibility when the tag is not associated with the pedestrian may explain the less-than-expected effectiveness of retroreflective materials on accident reduction.

Night Mobility Instruction for Children with Low Vision

Children with low vision frequently benefit from orientation and mobility instruction at night. Focusing on the needs of children, this paper examines the challenges of after-dark travel. The physical effects of low light on both normal and abnormal vision are discussed. The resulting consequences for low vision travel skills and orientation skills are outlined. Techniques for efficient vision use are suggested. Night travel aids are discussed and evaluated. Impaired night driver vision and reduced pedestrian visibility are considered.

Actual versus estimated night-time pedestrian visibility

Abstract The effects of headlight beams (high and low), glare and the use of a retroreflective tag by a pedestrian were studied simultaneously on the actual pedestrian night-time visibility distance and the pedestrian's estimate of his or her visibility distance. It was found that with a dark-clothed pedestrian for each of the visibility conditions studied (high beams, low beams and low beams + glare) the use of a retroreflective tag approximately doubled the pedestrian visibility distance. Furthermore, the tag invariably made the pedestrian visible at a distance greater than the stopping distance for a car travelling at 90 km/h. Most important, the pedestrian's estimate of his or her visibility distance also varied as a function of the same variables but in the case of high beams it was twice as far as the actual visibility and when the approaching car had its low beams on it was 1·4 times as far. Only in the presence of glare was the pedestrian's estimate of the visibility distance on average less than the actual visibility distance. Implications for night-time pedestrian safety are discussed.