Vehicle conspicuity at night.

THIS PAPER EXAMINES THE RELATIVE RATE OF OCCURRENCE OF ACCIDENTS BY NIGHT AND BY DAY AND THEN EXAMINES IN DEPTH CERTAIN ACCIDENT TYPES WHICH EXHIBIT AN ABOVE-AVERAGE PROPORTION IN THE DARK/NIGHT PERIOD. THE VICTORIA ROAD USER MOVEMENT (RUM) CLASSIFICATION IS USED FOR DEFINING THE ACCIDENT TYPES FOR DETAILED EXAMINATION. THE ACCIDENT TYPES EXHIBITING ABOVE-AVERAGE PROPORTIONS IN THE DARK ARE HEAD-ON, REAR-END, AND RUNNING OFF THE ROAD. THE TRENDS IN CERTAIN ACCIDENT TYPES OVER SEVERAL YEARS ARE EXAMINED AS IS THE DISTRIBUTION AROUND THE STATE (I.E. METROPOLITAN, TOWNS, RURAL). THE REAR-END ACCIDENT TYPE IS SHOWN TO BE PREDOMINANTLY A METROPOLITAN PROBLEM AND ITS DISTRIBUTION BY ROAD TYPE IS STUDIED FOR THE METROPOLITAN AREA. THE INVOLVEMENT OF PARTICULAR VEHICLE CLASSES IS ALSO STUDIED IN RELATION TO THE CERTAIN ACCIDENT TYPES. OF ALL REPORTED ACCIDENTS 42% OCCUR IN THE DARK BUT THERE IS AN APPARENT PROBLEM WITH REAR-END ACCIDENTS. IN 1971, 53.5% OF (5144) REAR-END ACCIDENTS, INVOLVING TWO MOTOR VEHICLES, OCCURRED IN THE DARK OF WHICH 23% WERE 'MOVING' REAR-END ACCIDENTS AND 30% WERE 'PARKED'. THE NIGHT REAR-END ACCIDENT IS LARGELY PECULIAR TO THE METROPOLITAN AREA, THE 'MOVING' REAR-END BEING A CHARACTERISTIC OF ARTERIAL ROADS WHEREAS THE 'PARKED' REAR-END HAS SIGNIFICANT OCCURRENCE ON RESIDENTIAL STREETS. RELATED WORK IS REVIEWED AND SOLUTIONS PROPOSED TO INCREASE THE CONSPICUITY OF VEHICLES AT NIGHT. (A). FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS SEE IRRD ABSTRACT NO. 226354.