Is the poor visibility of motorcycles related to their low sensory and cognitive conspicuity or to the limited useful visual field of car-drivers?, In: Increasing Motorcycle conspicuity: Design and assessment of interventions to enhance rider safety
ROGE ; VIENNE
Type de document
CHAPITRE D'OUVRAGE (CO)
Langue
anglais
Auteur
ROGE ; VIENNE
Résumé / Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate whether the low visibility of motorcycles is due to their low sensory conspicuity, to their low cognitive conspicuity, or to car drivers' ability to detect information in their useful visual field. To test these hypotheses, car drivers (32.02 years old), including motorcyclist-motorists and non-motorcyclist-motorists carried out a motorcycle detection task in a car-driving simulator. A high level of colour contrast between the motorcycle and the background enhanced the visibility of motorcycles when they appeared in front of participants. When motorcyclists appeared from behind participants, motorcyclist-motorists detected oncoming motorcycles at a greater distance than non-motorcyclist-motorists. Motorists' useful visual field was measured during driving in order to understand why motorcyclist-motorists detect motorized two-wheeled vehicles when they appeared from behind more easily than non-motorcyclist-motorists. Analysis of the data obtained led us to conclude that the size of the useful visual field did not differ significantly between the two groups and that motorcyclist-motorists were characterised by the greater speed at which they processed the information available in their useful visual field. We propose a variety of training techniques aimed at motorists and designed to improve the perception of motorized two-wheeled vehicles.
Editeur
ASHGATE
