Pedestrians' estimates of their own visibility: a simple and effective computer-based technique.
BACKGROUND
Research has shown that both pedestrians and drivers drastically overestimate pedestrians' nighttime visibility (NHSTSA, 2008a, 2008b; Owens & Sivak, 1996) and fail to appreciate the safety benefits of proven conspicuity aids. One solution is educational intervention (Tyrrell, Patton, & Brooks, 2004); however, the on-road assessment of its effectiveness is expensive and time consuming.


METHODS
Experiment One introduces a computer-based alternative to the field-based approach, successfully replicating the previous study's trends among 94 students who either receive or do not receive an educational lecture. Experiment Two utilizes the simulation's portability to determine if professional roadway workers have a more accurate understanding of pedestrian conspicuity than students.


RESULTS
RESULTS among 88 workers show they do not significantly appreciate the advantages of effective retroflective material configurations or vehicle headlamp settings, for example, any better than non-lectured students in Experiment One.


CONCLUSIONS
The study's results demonstrate the need for education among all pedestrians and the benefits of efficient testing methods.
Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
Stacy A
SA
Balk
Johnell O
JO
Brooks
Nathan
N
Klein
Jason
J
Grygier
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000193:education*; D001364:Awareness; D003116:Color; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D055254:Night Vision; D011481:Protective Clothing; D012449:Safety; D013334:Students; D014186:Transportation; D014495:Universities; D016138:Walking / Q000193:education*; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult