00740704

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1585-04

http://scholar.google.com...ough&publication_year=1997

Snowplow operators are a valuable source of information about improving forward visibility at night in snow, fog, or rain. These men and women have a heightened awareness of forward lighting and associated visibility issues and will try various techniques to improve their ability to see. Consequently, these operators have first-hand empirical knowledge about the factors that affect forward visibility. The purpose of this study was to survey a large number of active snowplow operators to determine what issues they believed were most important for forward visibility in perturbed atmospheric conditions at night. A survey was distributed to 300 New York State Department of Transportation snowplow operators throughout New York. Respondents reported that the most effective solution was to place lamps with narrow-beam distributions, what they generally term "spot lamps", away from the driver's line of sight. They also reveal some apparently sound, practical observations that also should be considered for improving visibility, especially windscreen and wiper-blade designs. Of special interest too, some believe that the spectral composition of the forward lighting system should be considered. These observations led the authors to speculate on the reasons why operators were so supportive of yellow or amber lights. The results presented here are largely consistent with a similar survey performed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1585, Safety and Management in Maintenance and Construction Operations.

English

p. 25-29

1997

Transportation Research Record

0309061563

Figures (2) ; References (6)

Data collection; Fog; Headlamps; Lamps; Line of sight; Night visibility; Operators (Persons); Rain; Snow; Snowplows; State departments of transportation; Surveys; Vehicle design; Windshields; Yellow; Yellow interval (Traffic signal cycle)

New York (State)

New York (State)

Design; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Vehicles and Equipment; I62: Winter Maintenance

TRIS, TRB

Sep 18 1997 12:00AM

• FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PRIVATIZATION OF WINTER MAINTENANCE FUNCTIONS AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL
• FRICTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SAND AND SAND-DEICER MIXTURES ON BARE ICE
• HIGH-VISIBILITY CLOTHING FOR DAYTIME USE IN WORK ZONES
• MANAGING CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH: EXPERIENCE OF NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
• PAINT-LINE RETROREFLECTIVITY OVER TIME
• SIMPLE MODEL OF FORWARD VISIBILITY FOR SNOWPLOW OPERATORS THROUGH SNOW AND FOG AT NIGHT
• TELEROBOTICS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE: SAFE RAISED PAVEMENT-MARKER APPLICATION