No abstract

Drivers' judgments of the magnitude of disability glare caused by high-beam headlights may not match actual declines in visual performance. This study investigated younger and older drivers' beliefs about their own visual performance in the presence of headlight glare. Eleven older drivers and seventeen younger drivers judged the distance at which they would just be able to recognize the orientation of a white Landolt C if it were present adjacent to the headlamps of a stationary opposing vehicle at night. The younger participants were generally accurate in their estimates of the recognition distance of the stimulus, while older participants significantly overestimated both their own acuity and the effect of glare on their vision. From this study, we see that older drivers' judgments about the disabling effects of oncoming headlights may be systematically inaccurate. These misperceptions about headlight glare may help explain why drivers tend to underuse high beams.

No abstract

Most vehicle-into-pedestrian fatalities occur at night, and insufficient conspicuity of pedestrians' clothing is a key causal factor. Marking pedestrians with retroreflective material can dramatically enhance their nighttime conspicuity, particularly when it is configured to present biological motion information to drivers. Although those who exercise outdoors at night are at particular risk and are therefore a key target audience for conspicuity-enhancing clothing, their willingness to obtain and use conspicuity aids has not been explored systematically. There is, however, evidence to suggest that pedestrians fail to appreciate visibility problems at night (e.g., typical pedestrians overestimate their own visibility and underestimate the benefits of wearing conspicuity-enhancing clothing.) The purpose of the current project was to measure the impact of an educational intervention on relevant attitudes of a sample of frequent outdoor exercisers. Results suggest that prior to the educational intervention the participants appreciated neither the magnitude of the nighttime conspicuity problem nor the benefits of biological motion configurations. We also found that a carefully designed lecture can result in a significantly improved understanding of nighttime conspicuity issues and a greater interest in (and willingness to purchase) conspicuity-enhancing athletic garments. The findings from this study are expected to be useful for encouraging pedestrians to take steps to enhance their own conspicuity at night.

Early research on gaze patterns during human locomotion indicated that pedestrians tend to focus their gaze on the path 2 – 3 m ahead. More recent research in this area has utilized eye tracking technology to empirically assess eye movements during navigation in naturalistic environments. A similar approach to understanding personal injuries resulting in civil lawsuits has potential utility in the field of forensic human factors. The present study was conducted in the context of gathering empirical data to support expert opinions in a premises liability civil suit. Using a mobile head-mounted eye tracker, the gaze patterns of five individuals was assessed as they walked two paths covering the area where the plaintiff in the subject suit was injured. The results of this analysis indicated that, consistent with previous research, participants fixated the path ahead. Additionally, the duration of fixations on their final destination tended to be longer than fixations on other objects or areas in the forward view. The present study demonstrates the utility of empirical analysis of conditions surrounding a personal injury using eye tracking technology.