Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the typical adult's ability to view, then estimate, distances along a roadway. A survey was conducted along a roadway, where 123 subjects were asked to look at, and then estimate the distance to common objects along the roadway. The entire population tended to underestimate distances to objects that were from 20 to 400 feet away. After none outliers were identified and removed, the average estimation error was –23.4%. The variation in performance among individuals was extremely large, with error extremes ranging from –96% to +71%. An analysis of the percentage error in estimation revealed that police performed as well as the rest of the population. The age of the subjects and their rating of their own vision acuity made no statistically significant difference in their average estimation error. Males had significantly lower estimation error than females, as did subjects who rated themselves highly with respect to their distance estimation ability.
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