The Effects of Expectancy, Clothing Reflectance, and Detection Criterion on Nighttime Pedestrian Visibility
- 1 June 1985
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
- Vol. 27 (3), 327-333
- https://doi.org/10.1177/001872088502700308
Abstract
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.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
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- Vision and Highway SafetyOptometry and Vision Science, 1970
- THE ABILITY TO SEE A PEDESTRIAN AT NIGHTOptometry and Vision Science, 1968