A pedestrian was struck by an oncoming car as she attempted to cross a street at night with vehicles approaching from both directions. The pedestrian was not in the crosswalk. An analysis of the lighting environment was undertaken, and our calculations showed that a number of factors conspired to cause the pedestrian to be all-but-invisible until it was too late for the oncoming vehicle to avoid impact.

The pedestrian was crossing from left to right in front of the vehicle which ultimately struck her. Due to the automobile headlight beam pattern, the majority of the light emanating from the headlights was directed downward and to the right, away from the pedestrian. Additionally, the headlights of the oncoming vehicles created a veiling luminance, or disability glare, sufficient to further mask the pedestrian.

Services

Accident Reconstruction

  • Human factors analysis
  • Testing & measurement
  • Modeling, animation & data visualization