Abstract
A field test was conducted at the Federal Highway Administration's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center to determine whether the use of UV headlamps in conjunction with fluorescent pavement markings could increase the visibility of roadway delineation. A passenger car was equipped with headlamps that supply UV radiation in a highbeam pattern, in addition to conventional halogen headlamps. Subjects rated the visibility of three types of pavement markings (standard paint, standard thermoplastic, and UV-activated fluorescent thermoplastic) as seen under conventional lowbeam headlamps with auxiliary UV headlamps either on or off. Results showed that UV-activated fluorescent pavement markings provided a significant increase in visibility when viewed with UV headlamps on vs. UV headlamps off, and also provided better visibility than the other marking types. This suggests that the use of UV-headlamps in combination with UV-activated fluorescent pavement markings and other traffic control devices could lead to improvements in nighttime driving visibility.
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