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Monsere, C. M., & Fischer, E. L. (2008). Safety effects of reducing freeway illumination for energy conservation. Accid Anal Prev, 40(5), 1773–1780.
Abstract: The addition of illumination where none was present is generally believed to have a positive effect on motor vehicle safety; reducing the frequency, as well as the severity of crashes. The operational cost of illumination, however, can make it a candidate for conservation during periods of high energy costs. In response to a forecasted energy shortage, the Oregon Department of Transportation selectively reduced illumination on interstate highways as part of an energy-saving effort. The reductions occurred at 44 interchanges and along 5.5 miles of interstate highway. This paper presents the results of a crash-based analysis of the changes in safety performance using an empirical-Bayes observational methodology. The study found an increase in reported crashes where the lineal lighting was reduced both in total crashes (28.95%, P=0.05) and injury night crashes (39.21%, P=0.07). Where full interchange lighting was reduced to partial lighting, a 2.46% increase (P=0.007) in total night crashes was observed. Injury night crashes, however, decreased by 12.16% (P<0.001) though day injury crashes also decreased at these locations. Unexpectedly, for interchanges where illumination was reduced from partial plus to partial, a 35.24% decrease (P<0.001) in total crashes and 39.98 (P<0.001) decrease in injury night crashes was found, though again, day crashes also decreased.
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Taillard, J., Capelli, A., Sagaspe, P., Anund, A., Akerstedt, T., & Philip, P. (2012). In-car nocturnal blue light exposure improves motorway driving: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One, 7(10), e46750.
Abstract: Prolonged wakefulness greatly decreases nocturnal driving performance. The development of in-car countermeasures is a future challenge to prevent sleep-related accidents. The aim of this study is to determine whether continuous exposure to monochromatic light in the short wavelengths (blue light), placed on the dashboard, improves night-time driving performance. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, 48 healthy male participants (aged 20-50 years) drove 400 km (250 miles) on motorway during night-time. They randomly and consecutively received either continuous blue light exposure (GOLite, Philips, 468 nm) during driving or 2*200 mg of caffeine or placebo of caffeine before and during the break. Treatments were separated by at least 1 week. The outcomes were number of inappropriate line crossings (ILC) and mean standard deviation of the lateral position (SDLP). Eight participants (17%) complained about dazzle during blue light exposure and were removed from the analysis. Results from the 40 remaining participants (mean age +/- SD: 32.9+/-11.1) showed that countermeasures reduced the number of inappropriate line crossings (ILC) (F(2,91.11) = 6.64; p<0.05). Indeed, ILC were lower with coffee (12.51 [95% CI, 5.86 to 19.66], p = 0.001) and blue light (14.58 [CI, 8.75 to 22.58], p = 0.003) than with placebo (26.42 [CI, 19.90 to 33.71]). Similar results were found for SDLP. Treatments did not modify the quality, quantity and timing of 3 subsequent nocturnal sleep episodes. Despite a lesser tolerance, a non-inferior efficacy of continuous nocturnal blue light exposure compared with caffeine suggests that this in-car countermeasure, used occasionally, could be used to fight nocturnal sleepiness at the wheel in blue light-tolerant drivers, whatever their age. More studies are needed to determine the reproducibility of data and to verify if it can be generalized to women. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01070004.
Keywords: Adult; *Automobile Driving; Caffeine/pharmacology; Coffee/chemistry; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Fatigue/*prevention & control; Humans; Light; Male; Middle Aged; *Photic Stimulation; Placebos; Psychomotor Performance/drug effects/radiation effects; Reproducibility of Results; Sleep Deprivation; Sleep Stages/radiation effects; Wakefulness/drug effects/physiology/*radiation effects; blue light
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Wood, J. M., Tyrrell, R. A., & Carberry, T. P. (2005). Limitations in drivers' ability to recognize pedestrians at night. Hum Factors, 47(3), 644–653.
Abstract: This study quantified drivers' ability to recognize pedestrians at night. Ten young and 10 older participants drove around a closed road circuit and responded when they first recognized a pedestrian. Four pedestrian clothing and two beam conditions were tested. Results demonstrate that driver age, clothing configuration, headlamp beam, and glare all significantly affect performance. Drivers recognized only 5% of pedestrians in the most challenging condition (low beams, black clothing, glare), whereas drivers recognized 100% of the pedestrians who wore retroreflective clothing configured to depict biological motion (no glare). In the absence of glare, mean recognition distances varied from 0.0 m (older drivers, low beam, black clothing) to 220 m (722 feet; younger drivers, high beam, retroreflective biomotion). These data provide new motivation to minimize interactions between vehicular and pedestrian traffic at night and suggest garment designs to maximize pedestrian conspicuity when these interactions are unavoidable.
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