Effects of Retroreflector Positioning on Nighttime Recognition of Pedestrians

摘要

The field study was designed to investigate potential effects of retroreflectorpositioning on recognition of nighttime pedestrians. The subject's task was to press a response button whenever he/she recognized a pedestrian on or alongside the road, while in a car with low-beam lamps on that was driven at a constant speed on a dark road. The recognition distances were determined by the elapsed time between when a subject started a timer and when the vehicle passed the pedestrian. Four retroreflector configurations were tested: (1) No retroreflectors, (2) Torso, (3) Wrists and ankles, and (4) Major joints. Each of these configurations was presented in connection with two walking directions: an approaching and a crossing pedestrian. The subjects did not know the location of targets in advance, and the order of the retroreflector configurations/walking directions was randomized so that the occurrence and type of the next target appeared unpredictable to the subjects.