Date of Graduation
2001
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
Committee Chair
Ronald W. Eck
Abstract
Due to the high number of nighttime crashes and fatalities, Congress has mandated that a minimum standard be established for traffic sign retroreflectivity. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has sponsored numerous studies to determine minimum in-service retroreflectivity guidelines for traffic sign visibility and legibility. A laboratory study was conducted to determine the adequacy of the recommended minimum in-service retroreflectivity guidelines in situations of varying visual complexity and environmental illumination. Subjects completed a target search and recognition operation on a set of eleven traffic signs presented at four different background complexities and three different luminance levels, including the recommended minimum in-service retroreflectivity guidelines. A full recognition response frequency of 90.3% at the guideline luminance level, which exceeds the 85th percentile criterion, indicates that the FHWA guidelines are adequate for the general driving public.
Recommended Citation
Bildstein, Allen F. Jr., "The effect of environmental illumination on traffic sign conspicuity and retroreflectivity." (2001). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD). 10598.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10598