Using biological motion to enhance the conspicuity of roadway workers
Wood, Joanne M. Tyrrell, Richard A. Marszalek, Ralph P. Lacherez, Philippe Chaparro, Alex Britt, Thomas W.
Wood, Joanne M.
Tyrrell, Richard A.
Marszalek, Ralph P.
Lacherez, Philippe
Chaparro, Alex
Britt, Thomas W.
Other Names
Location
Time Period
Advisors
Original Date
Digitization Date
Issue Date
2011-05
Type
Article
Genre
Keywords
Subjects (LCSH)
Citation
Wood, J.M., Tyrrell, R.A., Marszalek, R.P., Lacherez, P., Chaparro, A., & Britt, T.W. (2011). Using biological motion to enhance the conspicuity of roadway workers. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(3), 1036-1041. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.12.002
Abstract
This study examined whether the conspicuity of road workers at night can be enhanced by distributing retroreflective strips across the body to present a pattern of biological motion (biomotion). Twenty visually normal drivers (mean age = 40.3 years) participated in an experiment conducted at two open-road work sites (one suburban and one freeway) at night-time. At each site, four road workers walked in place wearing a standard road worker night vest either (a) alone, (b) with additional retroreflective strips on thighs, (c) with additional retroreflective strips on ankles and knees, or (d) with additional retroreflective strips on eight moveable joints (full biomotion). Participants, seated in stationary vehicles at three different distances (80 m, 160 m, 240 m), rated the relative conspicuity of the four road workers. Road worker conspicuity was maximized by the full biomotion configuration at all distances and at both sites. The addition of ankle and knee markings also provided significant benefits relative to the standard vest alone. The effects of clothing configuration were more evident at the freeway site and at shorter distances. Overall, the full biomotion configuration was ranked to be most conspicuous and the vest least conspicuous. These data provide the first evidence that biomotion effectively enhances conspicuity of road workers at open-road work sites.
Table of Contents
Description
Click on the DOI link below to access the article (may not be free).
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd.
Journal
Book Title
Series
Accident Analysis & Prevention
43(3)
43(3)
Digital Collection
Finding Aid URL
Use and Reproduction
Archival Collection
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
0001-4575