Drivers' visual limitations are a leading contributor to night-time traffic crashes involving pedestrians. This paper reviews the basic changes in vision that occur at night for young and old visually healthy drivers, as well as those with common ocular pathology. To maximise their safety at night, pedestrians should be conspicuous. That is, beyond being simply visible (detectable as an ambiguous object), they should attract the attention of drivers and be readily perceivable as pedestrians. Research has established that the conspicuity of pedestrians can be optimised by attaching retroreflective markings to the pedestrian's extremities. Doing so highlights the pedestrian's 'biological motion,' which facilitates the accurate perception of a person; however, retroreflective markings on the torso (for example, vests) are less effective. Importantly, behavioural evidence indicates that most road users -drivers and pedestrians alikeare not aware of the limitations of night vision. For example, drivers typically 'overdrive' the useful range of their headlight beams and under-use their high beam headlight setting. Further, pedestrians overestimate their own conspicuity at night and fail to appreciate the extent to which their own conspicuity depends on their clothing. The widespread misunderstanding of the challenges associated with night driving reflects a lack of awareness of the fundamental limitations of night vision. Educational interventions are needed to ameliorate these dangerous misunderstandings and to improve the safety of all road users at night.

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Research suggests that drivers do not fully understand the visual challenges they face when driving at night, and that drivers typically under-use their high beams. Because little is known about what factors influence drivers' usage of high beams, this study surveyed 202 undergraduates concerning their beliefs, habits, and strategies in choosing beam settings. Participants completed a 29-question survey asking about their general understanding of headlamp usage and roadway safety. These data reflect what drivers learned about beam usage when they were taught to drive and describe the factors that influence drivers' selection of high and low beams. The data also describe the participants' estimates of the frequency with which they use high beams, and quantify drivers' estimates of the distance at which they can see different objects at night. These data offer insight into drivers' beliefs about headlights, night vision, and safety. These insights are expected to be useful when designing educational interventions to encourage appropriate usage of high beams.

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Retroreflective materials make nighttime pedestrians more conspicuous to drivers, especially when configured in a biological motion pattern. Because retroreflectors are only effective when they are illuminated by a light source near the driver, they are not useful for pedestrians who are positioned outside the beam of a vehicle's headlamps. Electroluminescent materials have the potential to enhance conspicuity in these conditions. We investigated the conspicuity benefits of adding electroluminescent material to clothing containing retroreflectors. We compared, using an open-road course at night, the distances at which 120 observers responded to a test pedestrian wearing one of two garments at one of three roadside locations. Response distances to the garment that contained both electroluminescent and retroreflective materials were significantly longer, particularly when the pedestrian was more poorly illuminated as a result of being positioned on the left shoulder. These findings suggest electroluminescent materials have the potential to enhance the conspicuity of pedestrians.