Abstract
The effect of different headlight patterns on driving performance was investigated during test drives along a 8-km rural highway. Eighteen subjects drove the test course once for each of the three headlight conditions: low beam, high beam, and low-plus-high beam. Continuous recordings were obtained of vehicle speed, brake pressure, acceleration, steering wheel angle, and lane position. Response profiles for average and 1 S.D. of response were plotted as a function of distance along the test course. ANOVA showed small but statistically significant illumination effects for average speed, average lane position, and standard deviation of steering wheel position and fore-aft accelerations. It was concluded that the test course may have been too difficult and thus may have limited effects of illumination conditions on the driving performance measures obtained in this first phase of testing.
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