Threshold Visibility Levels for the Adrian Visibility Model under Nighttime Driving Conditions 2003-01-0294

Adrian's visibility model is a useful tool for assessing the visibility of an object at night. However, it was developed under laboratory conditions. Thus, it is necessary to determine the visibility levels which are required for detection under nighttime driving conditions. Experimental data from Olson et al were applied to the Adrian visibility model to determine visibility levels at target detection for alerted drivers. The data has been modified to account for experimental delay in the recorded detection points and a correction has been applied to assess driver expectation. Driver age, headlight beam pattern, and target reflectivity were all found to have a significant effect on visibility level at target detection. For alerted drivers, 50^th-percentile threshold visibility levels between 1 and 23 were calculated. For unalerted drivers, 50^th-percentile threshold visibility levels between 13 and 210 were calculated.