Research on accident reduction by intersection lighting.

On roads in Japan, fatal accidents that take the lives of pedestrians tend to occur at night. Every year, approximately 20 per cent of all fatal accidents (about 1,500) occur at intersections at night, despite the low traffic volume at that time. The goal of this research is to clarify the conditions that intersection lighting must satisfy in order to reduce night-time traffic accidents. The research began with a survey of overseas standards for the brightness of lighting. Based on the results of the survey, evaluation testing was done to obtain the minimum necessary illuminance and concept of luminaire layout to ensure safety when lighting is installed at intersections. Next, a field survey, focused on intersections where many accidents occur, identified causes of accidents related to road traffic conditions and roadside conditions. Then factors that impact effectiveness were analysed. The results have shown that at locations with high night-time accident rates, in addition to inadequate brightness at the intersection, road traffic conditions and roadside conditions cause problems, and at locations where night-time accident reduction effects are high, vertical illuminance above the crosswalks is high. A study of the illuminance necessary to reduce accidents at intersections was carried out focusing on the relationship between the occurrence of accidents and the illuminance at intersections. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E214938.