Low Conspicuity of Motorcycles for Car Drivers

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the low visibility of motorcycles is the result of their low cognitive conspicuity and/or their low sensory conspicuity for car drivers. Background: In several cases of collision between a car and a motorcycle, the car driver failed to detect the motorcyclist in time to avoid the collision. Method: To test the low cognitive conspicuity hypothesis, 42 car drivers (32.02 years old) including 21 motorcyclist motorists and 21 non–motorcyclist motorists carried out a motorcycle detection task in a car-driving simulator. To test the low sensory conspicuity hypothesis, the authors studied the effect of the color contrast between motorcycles and the road surface on the ability of car drivers to detect motorcycles when they appear from different parts of the road. Results: A high level of color contrast enhanced the visibility of motorcycles when they appeared in front of the participants. Moreover, when motorcyclists appeared from behind the participants, the motorcyclist motorists detected oncoming motorcycles at a greater distance than did the non–motorcyclist motorists. Motorcyclist motorists carry out more saccades and rapidly capture information (on their rearview mirrors and on the road in front of them). Conclusion: The results related to the sensory conspicuity and cognitive conspicuity of motorcycles for car drivers are discussed from the viewpoint of visual attention theories. Application: The practical implications of these results and future lines of research related to training methods for car drivers are considered.

[1]  Toshiaki Miura,et al.  Motorcyclists' Visual Scanning Pattern in Comparison with Automobile Drivers' , 1979 .

[2]  C. Koch,et al.  Computational modelling of visual attention , 2001, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[3]  Peter Chapman,et al.  EYE MOVEMENTS AND HAZARD PERCEPTION ABILITY , 1998 .

[4]  A. Treisman,et al.  A feature-integration theory of attention , 1980, Cognitive Psychology.

[5]  D. Wright.  Behavioural research in road safety VII , 1998 .

[6]  David R. Thom,et al.  MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT CAUSE FACTORS AND IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTERMEASURES. VOLUME II: APPENDIX/SUPPLEMENTAL DATA , 1980 .

[7]  Jan Theeuwes,et al.  VISUAL SELECTION: EXOGENOUS AND ENDOGENOUS CONTROL. , 1991 .

[8]  I. Brown,et al.  Vision in Vehicles III , 1991 .

[9]  J. Theeuwes.  Cross-dimensional perceptual selectivity , 1991, Perception & psychophysics.

[10]  P A Hancock,et al.  Driver workload during differing driving maneuvers. , 1990, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[11]  Graham J Hole,et al.  Some factors affecting motorcyclists' conspicuity , 1996 .

[12]  J. Theeuwes.  Top-down and bottom-up control of visual selection. , 2010, Acta psychologica.

[13]  J. H. Zar,et al.  Biostatistical Analysis (5th Edition) , 1984 .

[14]  F. L. Engel.  Visual conspicuity, directed attention and retinal locus. , 1971, Vision research.

[15]  Martin Langham,et al.  An analysis of 'looked but failed to see' accidents involving parked police vehicles , 2002, Ergonomics.

[16]  Peter A. Hancock,et al.  MOTORCYCLE CONSPICUITY: AN EVALUATION AND SYNTHESIS OF INFLUENTIAL FACTORS , 1989 .

[17]  Mark S Horswill,et al.  Motorcycle Accident Risk Could Be Inflated by a Time to Arrival Illusion , 2005, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[18]  Christof Koch,et al.  A Model of Saliency-Based Visual Attention for Rapid Scene Analysis , 2009 .

[19]  R. Norton,et al.  Motorcycle rider conspicuity and crash related injury: case-control study , 2004, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[20]  Jan Theeuwes,et al.  The limits of top-down control of visual attention. , 2009, Acta psychologica.

[21]  K Rumar,et al.  The basic driver error: late detection. , 1990, Ergonomics.

[22]  David R. Thom,et al.  MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT CAUSE FACTORS AND IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTERMEASURES. VOLUME I: TECHNICAL REPORT , 1981 .

[23]  Joceline Rogé,et al.  Alteration of the useful visual field as a function of state of vigilance in simulated car driving , 2002 .

[24]  G J Hole,et al.  The influence of perceptual 'set' on the detection of motorcyclists using daytime headlights. , 1995, Ergonomics.

[25]  J. Theeuwes.  Top-down search strategies cannot override attentional capture , 2004, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[26]  Mark S Horswill,et al.  A behavioral comparison between motorcyclists and a matched group of non-motorcycling car drivers: factors influencing accident risk. , 2003, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[27]  Joceline Rogé,et al.  Sensory conspicuity of powered two-wheelers during filtering manœuvres, according the age of the car driver , 2010 .

[28]  A Treisman,et al.  Feature analysis in early vision: evidence from search asymmetries. , 1988, Psychological review.

[29]  Alessandra Marinoni,et al.  Are car drivers holding a motorcycle licence less responsible for motorcycle--car crash occurrence? A non-parametric approach. , 2006, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[30]  F. L. Engel.  Visual conspicuity and selective background interference in eccentric vision. , 1974, Vision research.

[31]  D J Oborne,et al.  Human Factors in Transport Research , 1981 .

[32]  Paul L. Olson,et al.  Motorcycle Conspicuity Revisited , 1989 .