CONSPICUITY FOR PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS: DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM, DEVELOPMENT AND TEST OF COUNTERMEASURES

A field experiment was conducted to determine the extent of conspicuity enhancement provided pedestrians and bicyclists at night by various commercially available retroreflective materials and lights. The conspicuous materials were designed to be worn or carried by the pedestrians and bicyclists. Detection and recognition distances for the various experimental and baseline conditions were determined using subjects driving instrumented vehicles over a predetermined course on a real-world roadway system. Field experimenters were used to model the conspicuity-enhancing materials employing natural motion associated with walking and bicycling. The detection and recognition data collected for the experimental treatment are compared to respective baseline or untreated conditions and are interpreted in terms of various indices of "sufficient conspicuity."