Improving car drivers' perception of motorcyclists through innovative headlight configurations (original) (raw)

Improving car drivers' perception of motorcycle motion through innovative headlight configurations

Accident; analysis and prevention, 2015

The most frequent cause of motorcycle accidents occurs when another vehicle violates the motorcycle's right-of-way at an intersection. In addition to detection errors, misperception of the approaching motorcycle's speed and time-to-arrival is another driver error that accounts for these accidents, although this error has been studied less often. Such misperceptions have been shown to be related to the small size of motorcycles and to their small angular velocity when approaching. In two experiments we tested the impact of different motorcycle headlight configurations in various ambient lighting conditions (daytime, dusk, and nighttime). The participants drove on a driving simulator and had to turn left across a line of vehicles composed of motorcycles and cars. The motorcycles were approaching at different speeds and were equipped with either a "standard" headlight, a "horizontal" configuration (added to the standard headlight were two lights on the rearv...

Improving car drivers' perception of motorcycles: innovative headlight design as a short-term solution to mitigate accidents

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2014

The most frequent motorcycle accidents involve another vehicle violating the motorcycle's right-of-way at an intersection. The low visual conspicuity of motorcycles (especially because of their small size) is the primary reason why motorcycles are often not detected or seen or too late. The main safety measure in the past has been the use of daytime running lights (DRLs) by motorcycles, which became compulsory in the seventies in many countries. This conspicuity advantage of motorcycles as the only vehicles with DRLs is presently getting lost by the growing use of DRLs by cars as well. In a previous study (Cavallo & Pinto, 2012) we have shown that car DRLs are competing light patterns that create visual noise and decrease the detectability of motorcycles. In addition to detection errors, the misperception of the approaching motorcycle's speed and time-to-arrival also contributes to accident occurrence and severity.

nfluence of front light configuration on the visual onspicuity of motorcycles aria Pintoa

2013

A recent study (Cavallo and Pinto, 2012) showed that daytime running lights (DRLs) on cars create “visual noise” that interferes with the lighting of motorcycles and affects their visual conspicuity. In the present experiment, we tested three conspicuity enhancements designed to improve motorcycle detectability in a car-DRL environment: a triangle configuration (a central headlight plus two lights located on the rearview mirrors), a helmet configuration (a light located on the motorcyclist’s helmet in addition to

Visual Performance and Motorcycle Safety-Related Impacts of Various High Beam Headlight Intensities

Journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers Malaysia

In Malaysia, the three main types of motorcycle accidents include collision with passenger cars, collision with other motorcycles and single-motorcycle accidents. An accident may occur due to the lack of road design consistency and visibility where most drivers make more errors in the absence of geometric features. One of the most important barriers to the more frequent use of high beam headlight is the length of visibility of the headlight beam in relation to the stopping distance of a vehicle. Furthermore, it is crucial to evaluate the current limits on the luminous intensity of high beam headlights that is considered visible for a driver to come to a stop. Therefore, this first stage study summarizes and investigates the stopping sight distances, braking distances that allow for the evaluation of the vehicle's performance to increase the capability of both the driver and vehicle with regard to safety. A total of ten experiments were carried out with a passenger car, the Perod...

Analysis of the Relationship Between Turning Signal Detection and Motorcycle Driver’s Characteristics on Urban Roads. A Case Study

2019

The relationships among the potential causes of a car and motorcycle collision involving turn maneuvers as well as the perception of rear and front turn signal (on/off) configuration is examined in this paper. The investigation has been based on data pooled from the answers of a survey proposed to 136 people, with special regards to the correct detection of indicators aspect. Experimental videos have been realized during the tests campaign, both in urban and suburban areas, using a 360-camera attached to a motorcyclist’s helmet, reproducing vehicular conflicts able to potentially generate crash risks. The detection of the blinker was combined with other factors (e.g. age, gender, location of the test site, presence of the car behind tester vehicles and if the bikers are also habitual car or bike drivers) in a stepwise logistic regression that modelled the odds of detecting the turn signal turned on as a function of all of these factors. The results suggest the existence of a connect...

Motorcycle Conspicuity and The Effect of Auxiliary Forward Lighting

2011

Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Transportation or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. If trade names, manufacturers'names, or specific products are mentioned, it is because they are considered essential to the object of the publication and should not be construed as an endorsement. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. i 1. Report No.

Prevalence Study of Motorcycle Lightings and Conspicuity

2017

Road accidents involving motorcycle is an alarming matter in Malaysia as well as ASEAN countries. National statistics showed that motorcycle fatality cases were at average 60% in the year 2007 to 2009. Due to this reason, a prevalence study was performed to tackle one of contributing factors: conspicuity. A survey was conducted to gather information on functionality of daytime running light (DRL) and brake light, availability of third brake light, motorcyclist attire and existence of helmet reflector in selected area. A total of 950 samples were analysed. The study shows that 80% motorcyclist used DRL, with almost 96% motorcycles were not equipped with third brake light, while approximately 44% motorcyclists wore dark attire. A few recommendations are highlighted in this review paper to increase awareness to motorcyclist regards to conspicuity issue.