Citation

Hole GJ, Tyrrell L. Vis. Veh. 1996; 5: 145-151.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It has been suggested that voluntary daytime headlight use by motorcyclists might increase their conspicuity at the expense of reducing the conspicuity of non-users. Due to repeated encounters with headlight users, other motorists might develop a perceptual "set" for detecting point sources of illumination (headlights) rather than moving objects (motorcycles). This experiment investigated this issue experimentally, by encouraging subjects to use either shape or illumination as a cue to the presence of a motorcyclist. The principal findings of this study are: a) that headlight use improved motorcyclist conspicuity, and that this enhancement was greatest for motorcycles that were furthest from the viewer; and b) that repeated exposure to motorcyclists with their headlights on resulted in delayed detection of a motorcyclist with his headlight off, despite the latter being readily detectable in other circumstances.