Driving Performance under Nighttime Conditions of Visual Degradation

Abstract

Nighttime driving performance was studied in relation to four different driving tasks and four levels of visual degradation. Four matched but task-differentiated groups of four Ss each drove an instrumented vehicle at night on a superhighway. The four levels of visual degradation presented the roadway to the driver at overall luminance levels of 5.228 mL, 2.688 mL, 0.755 mL, and 0.168 mL. The two dependent variables were vehicle speed and vehicle distance from the white shoulder line. The visual degradation caused the Ss to slow down and position the vehicle slightly farther away from the shoulder. It was found that a driver also is capable of driving at a constant speed and of maintaining a constant lane position at very high degrees of visual degradation. These results were explained by the different instructions given to each task group.