title: Are car daytime running lights detrimental to motorcycle conspicuity?
abstract: For a long time, motorcycles were the only vehicles with daytime running lights (DRLs), but this conspicuity advantage has been questioned due to the rapidly increasing introduction of DRLs on cars as well. The present experiment was designed to assess effects of car DRLs on motorcycle perception in a situation that specifically brought attentional conspicuity to bear. Photographs representing complex urban traffic scenes were displayed briefly (250 ms) to 24 participants who had to detect vulnerable road users (motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians) appearing at different locations and distances. Car DRLs hampered motorcycle perception compared to conditions where car lights were not on, especially when the motorcycle was at a greater distance from the observer and when it was located in the central part of the visual scene. Car DRLs also hampered the perception of cyclists and pedestrians. Although the globally positive safety effect of car DRLs is generally acknowledged, our study suggests that more attention should be paid to motorcyclists and other vulnerable road users when introducing car DRLs. Several means of improving motorcycle conspicuity in car DRL environments are discussed.
authors.affiliation: French Institute of Science and Technology for Transportation, Development and Networks, Laboratory of Driver Psychology, 25, Allée des Marronniers, 78000 Versailles, France. viola.cavallo@ifsttar.fr
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cavallo
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention / Q000379:methods*; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D001642:Bicycling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009049:Motorcycles; D010781:Photography; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception; D016138:Walking