title: Effects of retroreflector positioning on nighttime recognition of pedestrians.
abstract: This field study investigated potential effects of retroreflector positioning on recognition of nighttime pedestrians. The subject's task was to press a response button whenever he/she recognized a pedestrian on or alongside the road, while in a car with low-beam lamps on that was driven at a constant speed on a dark road. The results showed that each retroreflector configuration yielded significantly longer recognition distances than the no-retroreflector configuration. More importantly, the retroreflective markings attached to the limbs led to significantly longer (about 60-80%) recognition distances than when the retroreflective markings were attached to the torso. Furthermore, a pedestrian was more recognizable while crossing the road than while approaching the subject vehicle, except for configurations involving no retroreflective markings.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor 48109-2150, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luoma
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Traube
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D016138:Walking / Q000293:injuries*