High visibility safety apparel and nighttime conspicuity of pedestrians in work zones.
OBJECTIVE
Every year numerous occupational fatalities result from pedestrians being struck by motor vehicles intruding into work zones.


METHODS
Attributes of retroreflective personal safety garments on pedestrian conspicuity at night were assessed in a field study. Using instrumented vehicles on a closed track, participants drove through simulated work zones attempting to detect pedestrians located in the work zones.


RESULTS
Configuration of the retroreflective trim, trim color, placement in the work zone, and driver age significantly affected pedestrian conspicuity. Intensity and the amount of retroreflective trim did not.


CONCLUSIONS
Personal safety garments incorporating retroreflective trim significantly improve pedestrian conspicuity in work zones.


CONCLUSIONS
The results emphasize the importance of retroreflective trim on personal safety garments, particularly if the trim is located on garment sleeves.


CONCLUSIONS
We examine the design attributes that contribute to making a personal safety garment conspicuous. The results have implications regarding preferred garment designs, industry standards, and service life of personal safety garments.
Sayer
James R
JR
Human Factors Division, The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2150, USA. jimsayer@umich.edu
Mefford
Mary Lynn
ML
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009755:Night Blindness; D016272:Occupational Health; D011481:Protective Clothing / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors; D014792:Visual Acuity; D016138:Walking; D017132:Workplace