Citation

Buchner A, Brandt M, Bell R, Weise J. Hum. Factors 2006; 48(2): 300-317.

Affiliation

Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany. axel.buchner@uni-duesseldorf.de

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16884051

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: A series of experiments assessed biases in perceived distance that occur while driving as a function of the backlight position of the car ahead and fog density. BACKGROUND: V. Cavallo, M. Colomb, and J. Doré (2001) have shown that smaller horizontal backlight separation and fog may result in increased estimates of the distance between an observer and a car of which only the backlights are visible. They also predicted that raising the height of the car backlights would lead to increasing distance estimates. METHOD: Distance perception was assessed in both static and dynamic computer-simulated scenarios in which the distance estimates were performed using a familiarized analog scale or using time-to-collision judgments for both pairs of backlights and single backlights. RESULTS: In a series of five experiments, the horizontal separation and fog density effects were replicated. In addition, distance estimates were consistently larger with higher than with lower vertical backlight positions. CONCLUSION: There is reason to believe that biases in distance perception may be augmented by car backlight positions and by low-visibility weather conditions. APPLICATION: Car designers should take backlight placement seriously. Speed-dependent car-to-car distance control systems seem desirable to counteract biases in distance perception.

Language: en