Truck Drivers' Ability to Locate Targets Briefly Seen in Mirrors

Abstract

The objective of this study was to establish a safe, repeatable procedure for measuring functional fields of view for indirect visibility systems on heavy trucks. Thirty-two professional truck drivers participated. A stationary class 8 tractor and attached semi-trailer was the test vehicle. On each trial the driver searched various mirror configurations for an automobile, minivan, motorcycle, or pedestrian target located at various positions around the truck. Two novel aspects of the method were an occluded-view procedure that restricted drivers' visual search to two-second glances, and a touch-screen map of the testing area used to indicate the position of detected targets relative to the truck. Target locations reported by drivers were closer to the truck cab than actual target locations especially for distant targets. This “safety” bias was similar for targets seen with flat and convex mirror configurations and also was observed for directly viewed targets near the front of the truck.

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