Experimental evaluation of retroreflective markings on trains and grade crossings
Name
42202422-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
10.92 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d852f9143ccf32b33ecf910f15187acb
Author(s)
Conti, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick), 1973-
Advisor(s)
Thomas B. Sheridan.
Date Issued
1998
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Every year in the United States, hundreds of accidents occur at grade crossings due to motor vehicles colliding with trains. Furthermore, a large majority 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 based on previous research were selected for this study, and a computer based nighttime driving simulator was developed for this research. In the first experiment, over a thousand scenes containing the view of a road intersection and a grade crossing were displayed to the subject. The subject's recognition of different reflector patterns was recorded and subsequently analyzed using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) based on Signal Detection Theory (SDT). The second experiment involved a driving task in which the subject encountered numerous grade crossings, and the recognition distance between the train and subject's position was recorded and analyzed.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 33).
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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