Traffic Safety Facts Vehicle Safety Research Notes: Development of a simulation model to assess effectiveness and safety benefits of enhanced rear brake light countermeasures.

Rear-end crashes account for more than 29 percent of all crashes; these types of crashes often result from a failure to respond (or delays in responding) to stopped or decelerating lead vehicles (NHTSA, 2007). The work described here is part of a larger program of research intended to develop and evaluate rear signaling applications designed to reduce the frequency and severity of rear-end crashes by redirecting drivers’ visual attention to the forward roadway (for cases involving distracted drivers), and/or increasing the saliency or meaningfulness of the brake signal (for attentive drivers). A computer-based model was developed under this effort to derive estimates of safety benefits associated with various rear signal approaches for avoiding rear-end crashes. The model was implemented in Matlab and relied on empirical data to model lead-vehicle-braking conflicts and estimate the impact of various system designs, including signal type and triggering criteria. This Vehicle Safety Research Note is a summary of the technical research report: Evaluation of Enhanced Brake Lights Using Surrogate Safety Metrics. Task 2 & 3 Report: Development of a Rear Signaling Model and Work Plan for Large-Scale Field Evaluation. DOT HS 811 329. This report can be downloaded free of cost on the Vehicle Safety Research section of NHTSA’s Web site (http://www.nhtsa.gov). (Author/publisher)