The present study evaluated the relative amount of light reaching drivers of different types of vehicles by using survey data collected in 1989 by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) in England. The TRRL data included driver eye heights and headlamp mounting heights for 445 vehicles. The present analysis considered three sign locations on a straight roadway: left shoulder, center, and right shoulder. Two viewing distances were included: 152 m (500 feet) (typical of a sign-legibility distance), and 305 m (1000 feet) (typical of a sign-detection distance). The analysis considered both the differential amount of illumination impinging on the signs from headlamps of trucks and cars, as well as the differential amount of the light reflected from the signs in the direction of truck drivers and car drivers. The main results are that for the viewing distance of 152 m, the amount of light reaching a truck driver can be as low as 25% of the light reaching a car driver; the corresponding percentages for the viewing distance of 305 m are as low as 68%. The reductions were then related to the expected effects on sign legibility and detection. The results imply that the increased eye height of truck drivers could have a major effect on the legibility of retroreflective traffic signs, but only a modest effect on their detection.
Influence of Truck Driver Eye Position on the Effectiveness of Retroreflective Traffic Signs
1991
24 pages
Report
No indication
English
Road Transportation , Human Factors Engineering , Traffic signs , Truck drivers , Human factors engineering , Sign visibility , Eye location , Great Britain , Man machine systems , Sign reflectance , Reflectorized signs , Driver vehicle interface , Vehicle height , Headlamps , Sight distances , Seat height , Vehicle lighting , Retroreflective traffic signs
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