Abstract
On the basis of results obtained in recent studies of foot pedal placement as well as specifications found in human factors guidelines, four different foot pedal configurations were tested for suitability in public school buses. Both simple movement time and choice reaction time measures were taken for ten female subjects on three coplanar arrangements and one configuration with a vertical separation between the accelerator and brake pedals. Results indicate significantly faster brake movement times for all three coplanar arrangements than for the arrangement with a vertical separation between the two pedals. With respect to the coplanar arrangements, brake movement time was significantly faster for the two arrangements with a horizontal separation of 12.0 cm rather than the arrangement with only 8.0 cm of separation. Therefore, it is concluded that operator performance may be significantly improved by providing a coplanar pedal arrangement with approximately 12.0 cm of horizontal separation.
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