Drivers' vision, age, and gender as factors in twilight road fatalities.

Author(s)
Owens, D.A. & Brooks, J.C.
Year
Abstract

Data from the U.S. Fatal Accident Reporting System (1980-1993) were examined to test the hypothesis that age-related changes of vision are associated with increased involvement in fatal accidents under low illumination. A quasi-experimental analysis of 626,893 cases investigated the effects of light condition, driver age, and driver gender for two categories of fatal accidents, pedestrian/pedalcycle vs. all others combined. The investigation focused on monthly variations in the distribution of accidents occurring under three light conditions: 1) twilight zones, in which natural illumination varied on a monthly basis with the annual solar cycle; 2) daylight control; and 3) nighttime control. The present findings provide a new evidence that age-related changes in basic visual processes, which cause gradual deterioration of night vision, contribute to increasing involvement in fatal accidents, particularly with pedestrians and pedalcyclists, in low illumination. (A)

Publication

Library number
961270 ST [electronic version only]
Source

Ann Arbor, MI, The University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute UMTRI, 1995, III + 29 p., 23 ref.; UMTRI Report ; No. UMTRI-95-44

Publication (link)

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