Determination of Speed-Dependent Roadway Luminance for an Adequate Feeling of Safety at Nighttime Driving

Vehicles

Sebastian Babilon¹  Timo Singer¹  Tsoni Vitkov¹  David Hoffmann¹  Tran Quoc Khanh¹  Anil Erkan¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing, Technical University of Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 4a, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany;

关键词: nighttime driving;    roadway luminance;    increased feeling of safety;    brightness perception;    adaptive headlights;    automotive lighting;   

DOI  :  10.3390/vehicles3040049

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The purpose of this work is to determine as a function of velocity the minimal roadway luminance that is required to be judged as being bright enough for a driver to perform a nighttime driving task with an adequate feeling of safety. In this context, it shall also be evaluated which areas of the vehicle forefield are most crucial for the driver’s general brightness perception. A field study with 23 subjects and dimmable LED headlights was conducted, in which the subjects were given the task to assess their perceived brightness for different luminance levels caused by the headlights’ low-beam distribution in the vehicle’s forefield on a 5-step rating scale. The experiments were repeated for three different driving velocities of 0 km h⁻¹ (static case), 30 km h⁻¹, and 60 km h⁻¹, respectively. Results for the static case indicate that, for the roadway to be perceived as bright enough by 50% of the subjects, an average roadway luminance of 0.88 cd m⁻² is required in an area up to 32 m in front of the vehicle. Furthermore, a significant effect of driving speed is observed. For example, at 60 km h⁻¹, the luminance must be increased to 1.54 cd m⁻² to be still perceived as sufficiently bright by 50% of the subjects.

【 授权许可】

Unknown