Nighttime visibility of 3M AWP and 3M 380WR ES durable tape under dry, wet, and rainy conditions : executive summary report.

Details

• Creators:
  Abbas, Ala R.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Akron. Department of Civil Engineering
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Nighttime crashes
  • Night visibility
  • Dark adaptation
  • Headlamps
  • Road marking tapes
  • Wet weather
  • Rain
  • Automobile driving at night
  • Road markings
  • Reflective materials
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/OH-2012/##
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Ohio
• Edition:
  Executive summary report.
• Corporate Publisher:
  Ohio. Dept. of Transportation. Office of Research and Development
• Abstract:
  Pavement markings play an important role in providing visual guidance to motorists. They are used to delineate the intended travel path and guide drivers regarding their location on the road. In order to function properly, pavement markings must be visible under all weather conditions. In general, most pavement markings provide satisfactory performance under dry conditions. However, under wet night conditions, the visibility of these materials degrades significantly as the marking surface becomes flooded with water, leading to partial or complete disappearance of the marking. There are two reasons for this phenomenon. First, the accumulated water over the pavement marking scatters the light away before it reaches the marking surface, resulting in a specular reflection rather than retroreflection. Second, the accumulated layer of water changes the efficiency of the reflective media in the pavement markings, resulting in a shorter detection distance for the drivers. Therefore, under wet night conditions, driving becomes more challenging because less guidance is provided to the drivers by the pavement markings.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  State Job No. 134563
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/24285/dot_24285_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 263.78 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c11438cf6a1146b2f0c7b8bd6ce21874ffec205fc0b7ecdb38520158d46823446d947bcbdd6ee506cb7e6d50794e5e0e646a187f5d1b89377da672b3b3edc2fc