Experimental Evaluation of Retroreflective Markings on Rail Cars at Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings

Details

• Creators:
  Conti, Joseph ; Sheridan, Thomas B. ; Multer, Jordan
• Corporate Creators:
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology ; John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Vehicle marking
  • Night visibility
  • Railroad grade crossings
  • Retroreflectivity
  • Railroad cars
  • Railroad simulators
  • Visibility
  • Human factors
  • Highway-railroad grade crossings
• Resource Type:
  Proceedings
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
• Abstract:
  Every year in the United States, hundreds of accidents occur at grade crossings due to motor vehicles colliding with trains. Some of these accidents take place at night in rural areas. One proposed solution to prevent such accidents involves mounting retroreflective material on the sides of trains so that a vehicle’s headlights will illuminate the reflectors and make the train more conspicuous. The objective of this research was to determine which train mounted reflector pattern gives an approaching driver the best train recognition. Four reflector patterns were selected for this study, and a computer-based nighttime driving simulator was developed. The experiment involved a driving task in which the motorist encountered numerous grade crossings. The recognition distance between the train and subject’s position was recorded and analyzed.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/9972/dot_9972_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 96.92 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:34abd3857d9a8f91fb1a9c306dabeef0495aa6e0ac188e24b47d0561a758f728eca445c0321fd29cc10de4419097c6125c99adf584c11d8cc818c5d0be2ed7d1