00639985

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org...trr/1993/1403/1403-005.pdf

https://scholar.google.co...rger&publication_year=1993

Daytime running lights (DRLs) have been proposed to reduce the frequency and severity of traffic accidents by enhancing the conspicuity of vehicles to other drivers. DRL regulations have been enacted in several countries and are being considered in the United States. Although various studies of DRL effectiveness have been conducted, only one has included the range of ambient illumination conditions encountered in the United States. The project reviewed methodologies appropriate for the study of DRL effectiveness and conducted a study of DRL effectiveness under a wide range of ambient illumination. A peripheral detection experiment was conducted in which subjects responded to a DRL test vehicle approaching at a 20-deg peripheral angle while the subjects were performing a central attention task. DRL intensities were 0, 200, 400, 800, and 1,600 cd. Ambient illumination levels varied from about 11,000 to more than 110,000 lx (1,000 to 10,000 fc). Only the 1,600-cd intensity resulted in a statistically significant increased peripheral detection distance. Improved peripheral detection distance was limited to ambient illumination levels below 43,040 lx (4,000 fc). The mean improvement in detection distance for 1,600-cd intensity and ambients less than 43,040 lx (4,000 fc) was about 75 m (247 ft), or about 3 sec of driving time at 88 km/hr (55 mph).

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1403, Driver Performance: Measurement and Modeling, IVHS, Information Systems, and Simulation. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

00669186

English

p. 28-35

1993

Transportation Research Record

Figures (7) ; References (29)

Daytime running lamps; Human subject testing; Interior lighting; Lighting; Luminous intensity; Measures of effectiveness

Ambient lighting; Effectiveness

Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 20 1993 12:00AM

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