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Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Clemson University

2008

Driving

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Pedestrian Conspicuity: The Effects Of Retroreflector Placement And Retroreflectivity, Justin Graving Jul 2008

Pedestrian Conspicuity: The Effects Of Retroreflector Placement And Retroreflectivity, Justin Graving

All Theses

One factor that has been causally linked to nighttime pedestrian-vehicle collisions is pedestrians being insufficiently conspicuous to drivers. Pedestrian conspicuity can be enhanced by use of retroreflective material, and this on-road experiment investigated the influence of retroreflector configuration, the coefficient of retroreflection (RsubA) of those retroreflectors, and pedestrian motion on conspicuity. There were two retroreflector configurations, three levels of RsubA, and the test pedestrian either walked or stood in place. Data from 121 participants are reported. The pedestrian was detected by more participants and at greater distances when the pedestrian was walking and wearing retroreflectors on the wrists and ankles …


The Effects Of Combining Reduced Luminance And Increased Blur On Older Driver Speed And Visual Acuity, Nathan Klein May 2008

The Effects Of Combining Reduced Luminance And Increased Blur On Older Driver Speed And Visual Acuity, Nathan Klein

All Theses

Drivers may be at more risk to themselves and other roadway users when vision is blurred or when luminance levels are reduced. Past research has investigated these visual conditions separately, finding that each degrades acuity without severely impairing steering ability. However, it is unknown how reduced luminance in combination with increased blur will affect driving performance. This study sought to quantify this combined effect on older adults' comfortable driving speed and visual acuity by testing 10 participants in a driving simulator. The majority of the luminance and blur conditions are comparable to those the driving population may realistically encounter. Participants …