It has been found that traveling on the roadways at night is an inherently more dangerous task than driving during the daylight hours. Driving is primarily a visual task, and there are certain situations at night in which vision and safety may be compromised. The effects of glare produced by the headlamps of oncoming vehicles have become an interesting problem to many lighting researchers. Depending upon the opposing lighting design (beam distribution and intensity) and the lighting conditions inside the vehicle, oncoming headlamps can be both visually discomforting and disabling to drivers at night. In recent years, the newer High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps have raised some concern because of their increased light output and brighter appearance as opposed to traditional Halogen headlamps. The objective of this study was to evaluate the discomfort and disability glare produced by different oncoming headlamps under two driver light adaptation levels. This study took place on the Smart Road at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. During the Discomfort Glare portion, participants drove an experimental vehicle at 20mph past the oncoming headlamps and were asked to rate their overall discomfort with the subjective deBoer scale. The Disability Glare portion involved drivers detecting a static pedestrian in the roadway while approaching each different set of glare headlamps. It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences in detection distance and discomfort glare rating across the different glare headlamp and adaptation level combinations. It was also hypothesized that age would have a significant effect on detection distance, and the subjective ratings. The results of this study revealed many significant main effects and interactions for the discomfort and disability glare portions. The main effect of glare source was the only significant factor for discomfort glare. The main effects of age, glare source and pedestrian location were all significant for the disability portion. In addition, the interaction of pedestrian location and glare source was also significant. Overall, there was no clear relationship between subjective discomfort ratings and objective disability measures. The conclusions of this research will be valuable to the consumer as well as the manufacturers and designers of future headlamps in revealing how glare can affect drivers on the road at night. This information can help guide new designs to maximize forward visibility while minimizing glare. / Master of Science

The main aim of this thesis was to evaluate the performance of the contrast sensitivity clock (CSC), a new screening device for measuring contrast sensitivity (CS) and glare. This device allows CS without glare, with glare and disability glare scores to be recorded. After initial data collection the design of the CSC was slightly amended improving the performance of the device. The amended design of the CSC was shown to be a valid, discriminative and repeatable measure for purpose. The CSC is also a quick test to perform and is relatively cheap to produce. If all these factors are considered it shows potential to become the test of choice for the assessment of visual glare. A head-mounted display system was also evaluated in terms of the glare effects it may cause. The monocular display screen of the device significantly reduced the CS of the eye directly exposed but also had an effect on binocular performance, reducing amounts of binocular summation. Electronic devices, including head-mounted displays and satellite navigation systems can seriously affect CS at low luminance levels, similar to those found when driving at night.

The main aim of this thesis was to evaluate the performance of the contrast sensitivity clock (CSC), a new screening device for measuring contrast sensitivity (CS) and glare. This device allows CS without glare, with glare and disability glare scores to be recorded. After initial data collection the design of the CSC was slightly amended improving the performance of the device. The amended design of the CSC was shown to be a valid, discriminative and repeatable measure for purpose. The CSC is also a quick test to perform and is relatively cheap to produce. If all these factors are considered it shows potential to become the test of choice for the assessment of visual glare. A head-mounted display system was also evaluated in terms of the glare effects it may cause. The monocular display screen of the device significantly reduced the CS of the eye directly exposed but also had an effect on binocular performance, reducing amounts of binocular summation. Electronic devices, including head-mounted displays and satellite navigation systems can seriously affect CS at low luminance levels, similar to those found when driving at night.

<p>Over the last two decades, an increasing number of highway construction and maintenance projects in the United States have been completed at night to avoid or mitigate traffic congestion delays. Working at night entails several advantages, including lower traffic volumes at night, reduced impact on local businesses, more freedom for lane closures, longer possible work hours, lower pollution, cooler temperatures for equipment and material, and fewer overall crashes due to lower traffic volumes at night. Although nighttime roadway operations may minimize traffic disruptions, there are several safety concerns for motorists passing by and for workers in the nighttime work zone. For instance, just in 2019, there were 842 work zone fatalities reported in the United States, with 48% of these being associated with fatalities on night shifts. Additionally, 70% of these fatalities involved drivers/occupants under the age of 50. Moreover, improper lighting arrangements or excessive lighting levels produced by temporary lighting systems installed at the job site could cause harmful levels of glare for the traveling public and workers leading to an increase level of hazards and crashes in the vicinity of the work zone. </p> <p>To address the issue of glare, very few studies have been conducted to evaluate and quantify glare at work zones. Most of these studies were limited to the determination of disability glare levels of lighting systems (balloon lights and light towers) with a metal-halide type light source by using the veiling luminance ratio (<em>VL ratio</em>) as a criterion for limiting disability glare. However, deeper evaluation of the effects of driver’s age on the veiling luminance ratio, and the use of energy-efficient lighting systems which employ light-emitting diode (LED) type light sources were not performed.</p> <p>This thesis focuses on determining and evaluating disability glare on nighttime work zones as a step towards developing appropriate lighting strategies for improving the safety of workers and motorists during nighttime highway construction and maintenance projects. Disability glare is the glare that impairs our vision of objects without necessarily causing discomfort and it can be evaluated using the veiling luminance ratio (<em>VL ratio</em>). In this study, disability glare values were determined by using lighting data (vertical illuminance and pavement luminance measurements) from testing 49 lighting arrangements. Two LED balloon lights, a metal-halide light tower, and an LED light tower were utilized for the field lighting experiments. The disability glare level evaluation examines the effects of mounting height, power output, rotation angle, and aiming angle of luminaires on the veiling luminance ratio values (which is a criterion for limiting disability glare). </p> <p>The analysis of the disability glare values revealed four major findings regarding the roles played by the mounting height, power output, lighting system orientation, aiming angles of luminaries, and driver’s age on disability glare levels as follows: (i) an increase in mounting heights of both balloon lights and light towers resulted in lower veiling luminance ratio values (or disability glare); (ii) compared to the "perpendicular" and "away" orientations, orienting the light towers in a "towards" direction (45 degrees) significantly increases the disability glare levels of the lighting arrangement; (iii) increasing the tilt angles of luminaires of the portable light towers resulted in an increase in veiling luminance ratio values; (iv) for balloon lights, at observers ages over 50, <em>VL ratio</em> values were found to be greater than the maximum recommended; (v) for LED light towers oriented towards the traffic, at driver’s ages over 40, <em>VL ratio</em> values exceed the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recommended value; and (vi) for metal-halide light towers oriented towards the traffic, at driver’s ages over 50, <em>VL ratio</em> values exceed the IES recommended value. The results from this research study can provide State Transportation Agencies (STAs) and roadway contractors with a means to improve glare control strategies for nighttime work.</p>

Para atenuar o impacto visual, que acomete o motorista ao ingressar em túneis rodoviários durante o período diurno, utiliza-se a luz artificial, com alto nível inicial e gradual diminuição para o interior do túnel. Tal solução apresenta dois inconvenientes imediatos, relacionados ao consumo de energia e à segurança. Devido à radiação solar direta, as imediações da entrada do túnel tornam-se fontes de ofuscamento de elevada intensidade e a iluminação deve estar dimensionada para permitir, ao motorista que se aproxima da entrada do túnel, a visualização de seu interior, implicando em elevado consumo de energia para uma tarefa com pouco requisito visual. Quanto à segurança, na hipótese de falta de energia aumenta-se a probabilidade de acidentes, pois o reflexo do motorista pode ser frear. As soluções arquitetônicas, objeto da pesquisa, correspondem a um Sistema para Adaptação Visual (SAV), implantado no trecho de rodovia aberta anterior à entrada do túnel, que, por um lado, atua nos elementos causadores do problema e, por outro, fornece a iluminação necessária no interior do túnel através das fontes de luz natural (Sol e céu). Para sua concepção, são propostas cinco estratégias. O desempenho do SAV, assim constituído, foi testado em uma aplicação prática nos túneis do trecho Oeste do Rodoanel Mário Covas, sem apresentar os inconvenientes identificados na solução convencional (iluminação artificial). A segurança no ponto crítico ficou garantida por característica intrínseca do sistema. Além de reduzir o consumo, a energia para o período noturno pôde ser gerada pelo próprio SAV, se incorporados módulos fotovoltaicos, e a sazonalidade característica da luz natural é acompanhada pelo sistema, favorecendo o conforto visual por diminuir a faixa em que ocorre o processo de adaptação visual. / The usual adopted solution to defuse the drivers visual impact at the highway tunnel entrance during the daytime, has been the use of electric lighting, with high initial level and gradual reduction towards the internal side of the tunnel. This brings two immediate problems, concerning energy consumption and security. Direct sunlight causes high intensity glare sources around the tunnel entrance, and the lighting level should be enough to allow the interior visibility, when the driver approaches the tunnel, entailing high energy consumption to a low accurate task. Security-wise, in case of power supply failure, collisions possibility increases, due to the drivers instinctive reaction to brake suddenly. Architectural solutions, this research object, are related to a Visual Adaptation System (VAS) positioned on the open road before the tunnel entrance, which, on the one hand, acts into the problem causes, and, on the other, provides the necessary lighting inside the tunnel by natural light sources (Sun and sky). Five strategies are proposed designing the VAS. A practical application on Metropolitan Area Ring Road Mario Covas West segment tunnels checked the so-built VAS performance, not presenting the identified deficiencies in the conventional solution (artificial lighting). The intrinsic system feature assured the critical point security. Besides the consumption reduction, the energy supply for nighttime could be generated by the VAS, if photovoltaic modules are added, and the natural light seasonal feature is followed by the system, favoring the visual comfort by decreasing the visual adaptation process range.

Para atenuar o impacto visual, que acomete o motorista ao ingressar em túneis rodoviários durante o período diurno, utiliza-se a luz artificial, com alto nível inicial e gradual diminuição para o interior do túnel. Tal solução apresenta dois inconvenientes imediatos, relacionados ao consumo de energia e à segurança. Devido à radiação solar direta, as imediações da entrada do túnel tornam-se fontes de ofuscamento de elevada intensidade e a iluminação deve estar dimensionada para permitir, ao motorista que se aproxima da entrada do túnel, a visualização de seu interior, implicando em elevado consumo de energia para uma tarefa com pouco requisito visual. Quanto à segurança, na hipótese de falta de energia aumenta-se a probabilidade de acidentes, pois o reflexo do motorista pode ser frear. As soluções arquitetônicas, objeto da pesquisa, correspondem a um Sistema para Adaptação Visual (SAV), implantado no trecho de rodovia aberta anterior à entrada do túnel, que, por um lado, atua nos elementos causadores do problema e, por outro, fornece a iluminação necessária no interior do túnel através das fontes de luz natural (Sol e céu). Para sua concepção, são propostas cinco estratégias. O desempenho do SAV, assim constituído, foi testado em uma aplicação prática nos túneis do trecho Oeste do Rodoanel Mário Covas, sem apresentar os inconvenientes identificados na solução convencional (iluminação artificial). A segurança no ponto crítico ficou garantida por característica intrínseca do sistema. Além de reduzir o consumo, a energia para o período noturno pôde ser gerada pelo próprio SAV, se incorporados módulos fotovoltaicos, e a sazonalidade característica da luz natural é acompanhada pelo sistema, favorecendo o conforto visual por diminuir a faixa em que ocorre o processo de adaptação visual. / The usual adopted solution to defuse the drivers visual impact at the highway tunnel entrance during the daytime, has been the use of electric lighting, with high initial level and gradual reduction towards the internal side of the tunnel. This brings two immediate problems, concerning energy consumption and security. Direct sunlight causes high intensity glare sources around the tunnel entrance, and the lighting level should be enough to allow the interior visibility, when the driver approaches the tunnel, entailing high energy consumption to a low accurate task. Security-wise, in case of power supply failure, collisions possibility increases, due to the drivers instinctive reaction to brake suddenly. Architectural solutions, this research object, are related to a Visual Adaptation System (VAS) positioned on the open road before the tunnel entrance, which, on the one hand, acts into the problem causes, and, on the other, provides the necessary lighting inside the tunnel by natural light sources (Sun and sky). Five strategies are proposed designing the VAS. A practical application on Metropolitan Area Ring Road Mario Covas West segment tunnels checked the so-built VAS performance, not presenting the identified deficiencies in the conventional solution (artificial lighting). The intrinsic system feature assured the critical point security. Besides the consumption reduction, the energy supply for nighttime could be generated by the VAS, if photovoltaic modules are added, and the natural light seasonal feature is followed by the system, favoring the visual comfort by decreasing the visual adaptation process range.